By Ismail Auwal
The former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has said that he meant to say that the government should recruit of 50,000 youths into the Nigerian army, not the 50 million he had earlier said.
The former Senator, in a statement on Tuesday, said that contrary to comments made at the colloquium in Kano where his 69th birthday was celebrated, his intended recommendation was to have fifty thousand (50,000) youths recruited into various national security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Army.
“Asiwaju seeks the expansion of security personnel by 50,000 for the armed forces, not the N50 million that 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 statement said.
While advocating for national employment and giving an inference for a security policy that could stem the tides of insurgency, Tinubu on Monday asked the Federal Government to recruit 50 million youths into the Nigerian Army.
Asiwaju stated that the recruitment move will help restore peace within troubled regions and stop miscreants from recruiting young people to do their biddings.
This was the first time the colloquium was held in the ancient and important city of Kano.
According to the APC Chieftain, the choice of venue was most appropriate given the theme and the underlying objective of highlighting the oneness of the country and the need for unity so that Nigeria may attain its best destiny.
