President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja praised Nigerian youth on Wednesday for their contributions to the outcome of the 2015 elections as “a model for democratic governance” in Africa.
President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja praised Nigerian youth on Wednesday for their contributions to the outcome of the 2015 elections as “a model for democratic governance” in Africa.
The Nigerian leader, who was speaking on the occasion of the 2015 International Youth Day, also expressed concern that economic growth in Nigeria has yet to translate into commensurate and improved social outcomes, “especially for our 60 million young people who make up the majority of the population.”
In that regard, he disclosed that his government would pay special attention to the growth of small and medium scale enterprises, as well as explore the use of intervention funds to encourage domestic industrialization and manufacturing.
President Buhari noted that although educational attainment by the youth has increased significantly in the last decade, the relevance of curricula, quality of education, and skills required to meet the demands of the job market remained a national challenge.
He assured Nigerian youth that his administration was poised to provide an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive so as to ensure greater opportunities for jobs to be created for our young people.
He said that his government was also determined to provide adequate infrastructure to boost the ability of “our job creation institutions to increase opportunities for our young people.”
President Buhari reaffirmed the commitment of the APC administration to fulfilling its campaign promises to Nigerian youth.
“Change for us is not a mere political slogan, but the beginning of a new era desired by the majority of Nigerians," he assured.