Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, has warned that Nigeria will not escape another citizens’ restiveness in the form of #EndSARS protest if it failed to effectively address the issue of youth unemployment and make practical steps in its national budget to engage the youths meaningfully.
He made the statement on Monday while formally declaring open the 2021 budget defence for the Ministry of Agriculture before the Abdullahi Adamu-led Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.
Lawan said that some young Nigerians genuinely expressed their anger in the two weeks long #EndSARS protest and successfully gained government’s attention.
Recounting the events of #EndSARS, the President of the Senate warned that a good number of youths who may not have had the opportunity to vent their anger are in the rural areas, adding that there was the urgent need to meet them in their needs.
Lawan added that there was need to be more practical with budgetary allocations for the Ministry of Agriculture to create jobs for many of the youths.
“Let’s meet them where they are and many of them are in the rural areas. Let’s give them what we can and keep them in the rural areas and make their lives productive.
“On our part, we are going to be accountable. We escaped this on (#EndSARS Protest); the other one is inescapable,” he said.
