I made a mistake, Tinubu clarifies comment on recruitment of 50m youths

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has clarified that his comment that 50 million youths should be employed into the Army was “an accidental verbal mistake”.

He said what he advocated was the employment of 5 million youths, including 50,000 into Police, Army and other security agencies, not 50 million.

Tinubu was widely reported to have called for the recruitment of 50 million youths into the Army to fight the rising insecurity. He spoke at the 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium to mark his 69th birthday in Kano.

Daily Trust reports that

the comment had generated mixed reactions from Nigerians.

But Tinubu media aide, Tunde Rahman, in a statement clarified that Asiwaju “seeks the expansion of security personnel by 50,000 for the armed forces not the N50 million which was mentioned in error.”

“It was an accidental verbal mistake of which we all commit from time to time especially when reciting a series of large numerical figures.

“He did not mean N50 million, which is almost a quarter of our total population.

“The crucial matter is that Asiwaju rightly observed that such strong recruitment would serve the twin-purpose of helping to tackle unemployment while at the same time enhancing the security of every Nigerian.

“Please forgive any confusion due to this innocent error. The most vital thing is that he set forth a wise and timely approach that would help us face two of today's stiffest challenges. It is in the spirit that we hope you view and assess his proposal for it seeks to provide a way for more youths to participate in building a greater, safer and more prosperous country.”

The statement further quoted Tinubu as canvassing the urgent need to combine employment and national security policy by the recruitment of 5 million youths in all aspects of nation-building, ranging from infrastructural development to agricultural modernization.