The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu says, the Nigerian government must spend more resources to create jobs for the youth in Nigeria, if it is to eradicate restiveness and criminality.
Tinubu said this at the 2021 Sardauna Annual Lecture in Kaduna.
He said, there is need for a dispassionate search for solutions to address the challenges rocking the nation.
The focus of the 11th Arewa House Annual Lecture centred on the reduction of cost of governance, as well as inclusive growth and youth development in Northern Nigeria, in a post COVID-19 era.
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The North is said to be the worse hit by poverty, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has not helped matters.
The Chairman of the memorial lecture, Bola Tinubu said, government at all levels need to shape their budgets to fit their revenue, in order to address the issue of poverty that is further deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Simon Lalong, identified insecurity, corruption and high cost of governance, as factors responsible for Nigeria’s under development.
Lalong said, money spent on salaries and allowances of politicians, as well as insecurity alone, if channelled into developing education, agriculture and infrastructure, would help in revamping the economy and take the country out of poverty.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, eulogised the late Sardauna virtues.
He said his administration is working to recover lost grounds, orchestrated by the pandemic.
The lecture emphasised on the need for synergy among Nigerian leaders, to address the country’s challenges.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
