A youth movement, the Nigerian Youths Alliance (NIYA), has described the disengagement of the 35 Presidential aides attached to the office of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, as deliberate attempt to purge youths out of the political scene.
The group which noted that the aides were sacked without any justification said the development showed the present administration disdain for youth political emancipation, noting that most of the sacked aides are young men and women.
This was contained in a press statement issued and signed by the Chairman of the group, Mr Akinsiji Ololade, the Co-Chairman, Mr.Tony Obialorand the Secretary, Adamu Tahir acknowledged that the constitution guaranteed and reserved the right of the President to hire and fire but said the exercise was carried to deliberately targeted against the youths
Ololade expressed disbelief that President Buhari who became President at a young age of 40, can no longer hide his distaste for youth political emancipation.
According to him, the Presidency has not hinted that the sacked aides committed any specific offences, saying the sack was a direct assault on the youths of the country.
The statement stated: “While we as a group respect the constitutionally guaranteed right of the President to ‘hire and fire’, it’s most unfortunate that the purge is deliberately targeted against the youths who, as the President himself has repeatedly acknowledged, are the true agents of the change movement that brought him to power.
“Considering that the Presidency has not hinted that the sacked aides committed any specific offences, it’s, therefore, safe to say the young men and women relieved of their job were thrown out because of President Buhari, who himself first became President at a young age of 40, can no longer hide his distaste for youth political emancipation.
“For a President who has consistently overlooked the youth constituency in almost every major appointment since 2015 to also sack 35 youths at a go are nothing but a direct assault against the youth population”
The group called on every Nigerian youth to stand up to defend their future from a minute clique of the old generation who are bent in destroying the future and tomorrow of the youth, saying: “We cannot and must not fold our arms while the same President Buhari we brought to power through the sheer strength of our youthful energy and ideas send us backwards by many years”.
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Ololade expressed concerns that ugly development is happening when the youths of the country have started making a significant inroad into the politics and governance of Nigeria, saying the latest sack of young people without any justification is a deliberate scheme to thwart the progress they have made so far.
The statement read: “This is why we demand that every Nigerian youth who knows that the future belongs to us, and not a group of retiring octogenarians, to see this sack beyond a few young people losing their jobs.
“This is clearly a battle against youth political inclusion and every young person will do well to rise in defence of our collective political destiny. At a time youths across Nigeria are beginning to celebrate the gains of the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign which has propelled many young people into leadership positions in states across the country.
“All pro-youth groups must, therefore, rise up now to defend our future from a small clique of the old generation who are bent on eating both our today and tomorrow.
“It’s quite unfortunate that as many serious nations across the world begins a systematic transfer of power to a new crop of foresighted and result-driven young people whom they have deliberately groomed for the task of nation-building; President Buhari is delighting in pushing our own youth farther away from the corridors of power and snatching from them the opportunity to learn.
“We admit that age or being youthful is not the only criterion for participating in governance. But every nation that has attained greatness knows that it takes a combination of the wisdom of the old and the energy and knowhow of the young to drive a country towards everlasting prosperity.
“It, therefore, beats imagination how the Buhari led the government that constantly mouths ‘sustained prosperity’ hopes to deliver sustainability in both programs and policies when it drives away youths who are the true owners of the future.
“It’s important to remind President Muhammadu Buhari that many of Nigeria’s leaders today were at a time young people like us, and they only evolved into the leadership roles they are currently playing because the elders of their own time gave them the chance to learn and grow.
“It’s therefore very unfortunate that President Mohammadu Buhari has chosen his time as Nigerian President to create an environment that shows a glaring apathy for youth creativity and potentials.”
The statement read further: “There is no achievement that is worthwhile if it is not sustainable, and we do not see how we can sustain whatever progress we’ve made if the youths are not made partakers and part-owners of all future dreams and aspirations.
“Like the British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disreali, says, “youths are the trustees of a nation’s prosperity.” Therefore, even APC members who feel strongly about preserving the ideals and policies of this present government must come out to condemn this brazen attack on youths whose only ‘sin’ is that they are young.
“While we call on Nigerian youths to rise up as one in defence of our collective progress and future as young people, we invite the Buhari government to note that we still carry the same energy and diehard the spirit we deployed in 2015 to bring the opposition into government. As youths, we will no longer fold our hands while a handful of old people decide our fate.”
The youth, however, demanded that President Buhari provide justifications for relieving the aides of their positions, urging him to reinstate them “if they have committed no offence”.
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