Nigeria's Buhari blames youth as VP urges youth to brace up for political leadership

It’s obvious that Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo don’t share the same ideology - especially when the youth is involved.

The statements from the two leaders of Nigeria have clearly shown that while Buhari is of the opinion that a larger percentage of the youth is lazy, uneducated and just want a miracle to happen through the country’s natural resources, Osinbajo believes in the strength, ability, and brilliance of the Nigerian youth.

Buhari’s take on Nigerian youth

At the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the United Kingdom, President Buhari referred to the Nigerian youth as lazy and uneducated.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Business Forum, the president had said: “More than 60% of population is below 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school & they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit & do nothing & get housing, healthcare, education free.”

The President’s comment on the Nigerian youth before world leaders has generated so many controversies with many youths taking him to the cleaners on social media.

Osinbajo’s take on Nigerian youth

A day after Buhari’s comment, Vice President had urged the Nigerian youth to be ready for political offices they intend to occupy.

The VP pointed out that leadership positions were not automatic, hence the brilliant youth need to participate in politics so as to shape their minds for the task ahead.

“It is true that young people are participating in every sphere of the economy and they are doing well, but they ended up there through one process of training or the other. Just like you have to train before you can become a pilot, so it is for politics,” he said.

Speaking further, Osinbajo said: “I think that whatever age a person chooses to run should not matter; what should matter is the preparedness of the person because elective positions require some skills. Most times people train to acquire other skills but not politics; that’s the way of democracy.”

Will the Buhari and Osinbajo team work again?

The current happening has further posed a question as to what the future holds for the political marriage between President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo.

While the President has announced his decision to re-contest for the 2019 presidential election, he’s yet to announce his running mate.

The Presidency has said that President Buhari will name his running mate after he has won the All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination to fly the party's flag in 2019.

The President’s spokesman, Garba Shehu said this while stating why Buhari did not say anything about his running mate when he declared his intention to run for a second term.

According to Punch, Shehu said that the President is not yet a candidate of the party, so he cannot pick a running mate.

Nigeria's Buhari blames youth as VP urges youth to brace up for political leadership

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