“If elected as president, the Youths Minister will be less than 30 years. 40 percent of my cabinet appointments will be occupied by youths,” he said.
Emma Njoku
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has promised that, if elected in 2019, his Youths Minister would be less than 30 years.
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Atiku also assured that 40 percent of his cabinet positions would be occupied by youths.
Atiku disclosed these to a mammoth youth crowd at a Town Hall meeting in Lagos, yesterday, where he promised to run a youth-friendly government.
“I assure you, if elected as president, the Youths Minister will be less than 30 years. Let me, also, assure you that 40 percent of my cabinet appointments will be occupied by youths,” he said.
Atiku added that his government would tackle youth unemployment headlong by creating an enabling environment for a robust private sector which, he noted, would stimulate the nation’s economy.
He said: “It is the private sector that drives the economy. We will give the private sector incentives, such as lower tax rates, to enable them create jobs. My government will provide the enabling environment through industrialisation.
“The duty of the vice president is drive the economy. That is why I’ve chosen a First Class economist (Peter Obi) as my running mate so we can replicate what we did when I was vice president. President Olusegun Obasanjo, then, gave me a free hand to drive the economy and that was how I assembled a crack squad of economic experts and we were able to stimulate the economy through the private sector.
“Our economic vision led to the emergence of GSM, which not only created million of jobs, but is being enjoyed by everybody today. One can conveniently do business with his partners in any part of the world with a phone call. We had people like Professor Chukwuma Soludo in our economic team and he transformed the banking sector with his reforms.”
Also speaking at the event, Obi, said the PDP government will pay special attention to education and that schools would be modeled after technology so that the graduates would be productive.
“The more educated the people are, the better the country. Once you are able to create prosperity, hunger, disease and poverty will be things of the past. If the economy is good, we will prosper, but if the economy is bad, we all perish,” he said.
Earlier in his opening remarks, PDP’s National Youth Leader, S.K.E. Udeh-Okoye urged Nigerian youths to give President Muhammadu Buhari a ‘red card’ for branding Nigerian youths lazy.
He said: “It is time to change the change for a better Nigeria. We will reject any form of rigging and harassment by security agents. We will follow and defend our votes to make sure they count.”
Former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, said president Buhari has lost all his goodwill and, therefore, must go.
He specifically congratulated Atiku as the incoming president and condemned the removal and destruction of campaign billboards and posters of PDP candidates in the South West.
“If you travel from Lagos to Ekiti and other states in the South West, they have destroyed all the billboards and poster of our candidates. APC cannot campaign because they have nothing to show for their candidates.
“Buhari has lost all his goodwill and must go. APC is left with rigging and vote-buying, but, if you defend your votes, they won’t get away with it. I want to congratulate our incoming president, Atiku, because he has worked hard,” he said.
Former Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel, assured the youths that a lot had been done to ensure mass employment for them by the Atiku government once elected. He said the PDP presidential candidate is passionate about the youth.
PDP’s National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, said his party is offering Nigerians a president they can engage, interface and communicate with.
He told the youths that Atiku’s government would offer them a platform to prepare to take over governance as leaders of tomorrow.
“We want a president who can take responsibility. February 16 is a vote for freedom,” Secondus said.