Some Nigerians have taken to social media to react to comments President Muhammadu Buhari made during an interview. The president said the youth in the West African nation need to “behave” themselves if they want jobs as well as businesses to invest in the country.
The 78-year-old made those comments during an interview on local television station Arise TV on Thursday, Reuters reported. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation with around 200 million people. And the country’s unemployment rate in the fourth quarter reportedly went up by 33.3%. But during the interview, Buhari stressed that for the country to be able to attract investors, security should be guaranteed.
“Nobody is going to invest in an insecure environment. So I told them, I said they should tell the youth that if they want jobs, they will behave themselves,” Buhari said. “Make sure that the area is secure. So that people can come in and invest.”
Though the West African nation has been grappling with unemployment since time immemorial, the situation took a turn for the worse as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. The country is also yet to get back on its feet after the recession in 2016.
And besides the economic woes, the Buhari administration has been strongly criticized over the upsurge of violence in the country, with incidents of banditry, kidnappings and terrorist attacks still lingering.
Take a look at some of the reactions to Buhari’s comments below:
