Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina has excoriated Nigerian youths suggesting they are unwilling to work, thus deepening the level of unemployment in Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari, some years ago, had expressed a similar view describing Nigerian youths as lazy at an international forum.
Messrs Masari and Buhari are from Katsina and belong to the same ruling All Progressives Congress.
Mr Masari’s claim came days after a World Bank report indicated that the unemployment rate in Nigeria had risen to the highest level.
On Channels TV, Mr Masari accused the youths of whining and displaying a sense of entitlement.
“People tend to say there is no work. Who told you there is no work? There is work to a willing mind. Because people feel when they go to university, the society owes them a living, while it should be the reverse,” Mr Masari argued.
Mr Masari’s claim is in sharp contrast to many people’s view that the nation’s youngsters are industrious and enterprising.
Further chastising Nigerian graduates, the governor said, “What are you doing with the education you acquire to help change yourself, your community, change your family, change the society? What are you doing about it? Are you waiting for a paid job of N50,000 or N60,000? We have to sit up.”
Apart from Mr Masari accusing the youths of being unwilling to work, his party has often blamed the previous administration at the national level for the country’s economic woes and insecurity.
“The rise in unemployment rates has been particularly acute since the 2015-2016 economic recession and has further worsened as COVID-19 led to the worst recession in four decades in 2020,” the report stated.
According to a National Bureau of Statistics report, the unemployment rate in Nigeria has shot up fivefold from 6.4 per cent in 2010, hitting 33.3 per cent as of the last quarter of 2020.
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