Insecurity: Recruit 50 Million Youths Into Army – Tinubu Tells FG
National Leader of All Progressives Congress, Chief Bola Tinubu has urged the Federal Government to recruit 50 million youths into Nigerian Army in a bid to help tackle insurgents and miscreants threatening the nation’s peace.
Speaking on Monday during 12th Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Colloquium held in Kano state in celebration of his 69th birthday, the former Lagos State governor noted that it is expedient for political leaders to create jobs for Nigerian youths if the nation is to experience rest from banditry and other forms of criminality.
Pointing to the 33 per cent unemployment rate among the youth, which he described as disturbing, Tinubu said there is an urgent need for the country to recruit 50 million youths into the Nigerian Army and the police, so as to reduce joblessness among the youth.
According to the APC stalwart, insurgents like Boko Haram and bandits are taking advantage of the high unemployment in the country and are recruiting the youths to indulge in their criminal activities.
He expressed;
Recruit 50 million youths into the army. What they will eat —cassava, corn, yam, will grow here.
Tinubu stressed that the recruitment process should not emphasise education or literacy but willingness to fight criminals, adding;
Don’t talk about illiteracy, anybody who can hold a gun, who can handle a gun, who can cock and shoot is technically competent to repair a tractor in the farm.
We are under-policed and we are competing with armed robbers and bandits to recruit from the youths who are unemployed —33 per cent unemployed?
He noted that failure to address unemployment will continue to allow bandits to take advantage and recruit young Nigerians for peanuts.
The APC stalwart maintained that massive job creation is a disincentive that will demobilise the youth and deplete the source of manpower for the terror group, Boko Haram.
Tinubu emphasized that the nation is under-policed, adding that drafting the youth into various national security agencies should not be based solely on educational qualification or literacy.
He then urged Federal and State governments to create opportunities in agriculture to stem the unemployment rate.