Young educated Nigerians should not expect jobs from government - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has told Nigerian youths not to expect automatic benefits from the government just because they're educated.

The 79-year-old said in an interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 that he wants young Nigerians to go to school and earn degrees.

But he emphasised that education is not just a pathway to material things, or to be entitled to government help.

He said, "You get educated because an educated person is certainly better than an uneducated one, even in identifying personal problem.

"So, education is not just meant to hang on to government to give you job or what the colonials indoctrinated us on - to have a car, house, and to start work at 8 o'clock and close at 2 o'clock. No."

Buhari has had a tense relationship with young Nigerians since he was inaugurated in 2015, and is sure to stir some more discontent with his latest comments.

His own academic credentials have been disputed for many years, and subject to controversy that he's repeatedly tried to clear without success in the court of public opinion.

He kept insisting during Wednesday's interview that the best way to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty is for many, especially youths, to start farming, a common position he's taken since he became president.