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EndSARS: Nigeria’s Senate President Urges Government To Urgently Address Unemployment

November 9, 2020

Senator Lawan, who recounted the events of the nationwide #EndSARS protests, said the government should have learnt from the demonstration and urgently put solutions to the needs and concern of the youth.

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has expressed fear that the next street demonstration by the youth might end up in a total uprising if the Nigerian Government failed to address issues of unemployment, poverty, and the living standard in the country.

Senator Lawan, who recounted the events of the nationwide #EndSARS protests, said the government should have learnt from the demonstration and urgently put solutions to the needs and concern of the youth.

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He spoke on Monday during the budget defense session of the Ministry of Agriculture at the National Assembly, stressing that the government needed to make provision in its budget to meaningfully engage the youth to another restiveness.

He said, “They were seeking the attention of leaders and they got the attention. So our budget especially for 2021 should be mindful of what we do to provide employment opportunities for these youths.

"They demonstrated, they protested because they could do so. There are so many other people who may not be youthful but are also in the same need but they didn’t protest.

“Let us meet them where they are, we don’t want to wait until they also start to grumble or protest we should be proactive, we should run to them and they are in the rural areas.

"So we should meet them there, give them what we can within the purview of our resources and leave them there to live a productive life and that is the only way that we can make a difference in the lives of the people.

“Let’s meet them where they are and many of them are in the rural areas. Let’s give them what we can and keep them in the rural areas and make their lives productive.

“On our part, we are going to be accountable. We escaped this on (#EndSARS Protest); the other one is inescapable.

“Agriculture is enough to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria. Something that Buhari has not been able to do."