ATIKU Abubakar, former Vice President, has called for a quality investment into the future of Nigerian youths.
Atiku made the call in his Independent Day’s message to the nation.
He said the Nigerian youths represent the future wealth of Nigeria and the only way of tapping into their potentials is by quality investment in education and skills acquisition for them.
“The youths of Nigeria represent the future wealth of the fatherland and the only way we can tap into them is through quality investments in education and skills acquisition,” he said.
“Through the creativity that they inject in their passion, the excellence of the Nigerian youth is a global signature in diverse fields notably in sports, as they can be found in medicine, in education, in business and finance, agriculture, and in our entertainment industry.
“Indeed they ‘berekete’ in every facet of our life from the rain forest of the south to the Sudan and Sahel Savannah of the north and the guinea Savannah of the midlands of the territories we call home.
“We may have failed to take advantage of the power of the Nigerian youth. But there is something much more significant that their triumphs teach us people looking forward to a better future. When they win, they celebrate Nigeria.”
According to him, Nigerian youths are ready and eager to conquer the world, stressing that What they lack is the leadership to take them through that process.
“For Nigeria to work for the millions of its people, and to be reckoned with as a global competitive force in the nearest future, we must come up with a development plan that will have our youth at the centre of the plan.
Atiku said the times of idle, lame promises are over, noting that “we urgently need to build a new Nigeria where every dream would be embraced and the potentialities of our youth could be unleashed without the usual fears that have dragged us.”
Drawing reference from Israel Adesanya, UFC star in his recent outing to defend his UFC middleweight title in Abu Dhabi and the joy and pride his victory brought to Nigeria and all Nigerians, the former presidential candidate noted that there are many youths in the country with the indefatigable spirit of Adesanya but the Nigeria state has failed them.
“On Saturday, 26 September, 2020 in far away Abu Dhabi, Israel Adesanya, an illustrious Nigerian, who embodies the indefatigable Nigerian spirit made the nation proud by successfully defending his UFC middleweight title. That victory lifted our spirit and gave us hope in a season of hopelessness when every index of life and human development in our country is trending abysmally negative.
“Nigerians of all hues are united in the celebration of the victory of Adesanya. It is our victory. No one cares if he is from Abia or Zamfara, Rivers or Osun state. Indeed some are wont to adopt Ibrahim or Omesonma as his name. But what is important is that he is a Nigerian, and his victory our collective victory.”
“Truth be told, there are many Adesanyas in every nook and cranny of our land. They give meaning to our aspirations. Sadly we have failed them.
He lamented that the structure on which we have hinged our political and economic emancipation has equally failed us.
“We do not hope to continue doing the same thing with a jaded and unworkable system and expect to get a remarkable result.”
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