By Gideon Njoku
#EndSARS Protesters, Others, In Trouble
On the eve of a nationwide protest against insecurity and the state of the Nation, generally, slated for June 12, President Muhammadu Buhari accused Nigerian youths of promoting insecurity.
The President spoke in an exclusive interview he granted the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, the second he granted a television station in Nigeria within 24 hours. The first, which was aired on Thursday morning, June 10, 2021, was to ARISE TV.
Speaking on NTA Friday night, the President admitted to a lack of foreign investors in the country. He attributed it to insecurity, a problem he blames on the youths.
He said that without a secured country, there will be no foreign investors, and there will be no jobs without investment.
Buhari:”The number one thing is security. If you don’t secure the country, people will not invest.
“Look at the #EndSARS protesters. At the time, I sent all the Ministers back to their constituencies. Constitutionally, the Ministers represent their States. So, I asked them to go to their States. Let them speak to their Governors, their political leaders, traditional rulers, and very importantly, let them speak to the youths that the Federal Government says there is no more vacancy, virtually every department is filled. The same thing in the States and Local Governments
“So, you can have a good degree from a good University, and you will never get a job. Because, if you promote insecurity by burning factories, institutions, nobody will come and invest.
“So, it’s in their own interest that Nigeria is secured. When the Country is secure, it’s potentially rich because people will come and invest. Countries that have something to invest must make sure that they can recover their investments”
On #EndSARS, and those who kill Security Personnels, burn Government facilities and properties, loot armories, and release prisoners, the President said he would jail them.
Buhari: “What do you want to achieve?
Go and open prisons and allow criminals who have been tried by the legal system, and let them escape. How can Government sit aside and allow this confusion to be perpetrated?
“Look at the #EndSARS incident. The previous Governor of Lagos State bought 200 buses to complement the transportation in Lagos. And he built a complex involving railways, but they went and burnt them.
“The present Governor made an album, and came to see me. I said, thank you very much. I took the album, put it in my archives, and told him to tell Lagosians to work because we don’t have the money. After the Government bought 200 buses, for some people to go and burn them? So, let them work.
“We will arrest them, try them, give them, very bad publicity, and then jail them, so that people will know that if they misbehave, they will not get away with it.”
The President had earlier said he would deal with those who deliberately cause trouble in Nigeria in the language they will understand.
