WATCH: Free Readers Association analyse President Buhari’s lazy Nigerian youths comment
President Muhammadu Buhari, last April, came under heavy criticism from Nigerians for saying the youths in the country do not like to work.
Buhari made the comment at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Westminster and citizens felt ridiculed.
The Free Readers Association, while reviewing notable events of the past year, discussed how the comment was perceived and the impact it had.
Communications expert, Ikemesit Effiong was of the opinion that the comment left “a bad taste” in the mouths of the youths and it backed the argument that Buhari was not much of a politician.
Tunji Andrews, an economic expert, had differing thoughts on the statement, saying instead that the President may have communicated his thoughts wrongly.
“Some of the most entitled people in the world are Nigerians,” Andrews said. “Maybe ‘entitled’ is the word he was probably going for.”
For Jide Taiwo, a media expert, the sense of entitlement could actually be substantiated as the youths see political office holders who do little to justify their positions flaunt expensive items.
“It’s difficult for a Nigerian youth who sees all of these, sees everything that the political class do … and [he] has to take 10-15 years to learn,” Taiwo said.
Social commentator and media expert Ireti Bakare-Yusuf agreed that many youths in the country have a sense of entitlement.
“Yes, hardworking nation. We’re hardworking people because we’ve just got to get on with it, not because we’re particularly the most innovative,” she said.
Watch more discussions and analyses of important incidents in the past year on Neusroom YouTube.
