Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has withdrawn the statement he made at the colloquium to mark his 69th birthday, where he asked the Federal Government to recruit 50 million Nigerian youths to fight insecurity in the country.
Read: “Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Turns 69 Today Amid Nationwide Tour (video)
Speaking through his spokesman, Tunde Rahman on Tuesday, the Jagaban of Lagos said it was a slip of tongue.
According to him, he meant to say that 5 million youths be recruited and not 50 million. The number according to him would boost the fight against terrorism, banditry and other criminal activities in the country.
In his words, “We are under-policed and we are competing with armed robbers and bandits to recruit from the youths who are unemployed.
“Recruit 50 million youths into the army and take away from their recruitment source, what they will eat cassava, corn, we grow here.
The celebrant added the we shouldn’t “talk about illiteracy, anybody who can hold a gun, who can cock a gun and shoot isis technically competent to repair a tractor in the farm.”
Tinubu’s position has earned him tons of backlash within and outside the political circles.
Femi Fani-Kayode@realFFK “You have asked for 50 million youths to be recruited into the Nigerian Armed Forces & everyone is clapping for you. Do you have 50 million weapons to give them or do you expect them to fight with sticks & stones?Do you have hundreds of millions of dollars to pay them or will they fight for free?
“Do you have enough food to feed them or will they fight on empty stomachs? Do you have enough accommodation to house & keep them or will they sleep in the streets & fields? Do you have enough vehicles, cars, buses, tanks, planes, fighter jets, boats, battle ships, aircraft carriers & submarines or will they walk, jog, swim & fly on a broomstick into battle?
“Do you have enough hospitals to treat them in peace & war time or will you fly them abroad for treatment after they fall sick or have been blown up in battle by rocket propelled launchers and land mines? Let us get real! It is not the size of the Army that counts or the number of soldiers you have but rather their fighting capability, professionalism, patriotism, discipline, training, logistics, supply lines, support and weaponry.
“If you put all the number of military personnel together from the countries of the entire developed world, including Europe, America, Russia, China, Israel, Brazil, Egypt and Turkey, they do not number up to 50 million troops. Let us stop running around in circles.
“If we really want to win the war against terror & save lives it is not about the number of soldiers we have but about the political will, patriotism, love for country & courage that our Government & every single one of us as citizens must cultivate and display as a people Without any or all of those noble qualities we do not have a hope in hell of winning any war, let alone one that is being waged against the first and fourth most deadly terrorist organisations in the world like Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen.”