By: Arikawe Femi
The former of Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday raised that the Nigerian youths involved in all kind of violence act due to unemployment and the government’s incapacity to control the country’s population, many Nigerian youngsters are “enlisting with violent groups and abduction gangs,.
Obasanjo voiced concern about the country’s expanding population, particularly the unemployed youngsters, while addressing at the Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe conference in Lagos.
He claimed that political will and action were essential for turning the country’s population into an asset.
Obasanjo has raised a number of important problems about how to deal with Nigeria’s growing population: “The first set of questions is: How will we feed this expanding population? How are we going to house and educate them, given that we have security and other security options?”
Obasanjo has raised a number of important problems about how to deal with Nigeria’s growing population: “The first set of questions is: How will we feed this expanding population? How are we going to house and educate them, given that we have security and other security options?”
“How can we keep this massive army of unemployed youth from exploding?” he continued, referring to the second round of questions. How can we prevent youths from joining violent gangs or kidnapping organisations? It’s unsettling to be in a population cluster that hasn’t been effectively controlled.
“It appears that there is a solution. Political will and initiative may turn the population into a resource. The master key is this. The secret to success is to have both the will and the ability to act. It’s not enough to use political jargon to declare one’s political will.”
The former president also claimed that governments may utilise an index to improve their inhabitants and turn them into an asset.
“I’m proud to introduce the population and assets responsiveness index,” he stated, “much as the United Nations, the African Union, and other international organisations have established indices for comparing country performance.”