The former governor of Anambra State and vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 elections, Mr Peter Obi, has said Nigeria is in crises in various sectors due to the failure of the country to invest in her youths.

Obi said this on Tuesday at the eight annual public lecture organised by the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria themed, ‘National security challenges: Youth neglect?’ held in Yaba, Lagos.

He said, “The neglect of our youths by our country is by not investing; one, in education, which is the most critical component of human development, and two, not investing in the engine that drives the economy; micro, small and medium enterprises.

“These have created a pool of unemployed and underemployed youths which are the causes of the crises we are facing today. We have more youths that are unemployed here than in South Africa because of our population and that is a crisis we are experiencing.

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“These youths do not know where the next meal would come from and the consequence of that is we have the highest drug recurrence in the world. While on an average, it is 5.5 per cent; in Nigeria, it is 14.8 per cent, and among the youths, it is 21 per cent.”

In his remarks, the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mrs Mosunmola Shasore, noted that dwindling economic conditions were some of the factors responsible for social vices among youths.

He said, “There have been no deliberate policies to neglect the youths. The truth however is that impact of a dwindling economy would be felt mostly by the youths who would have to face the challenges of unemployment, job losses and the lack of capacity to take advantage of opportunities to earn a decent livelihood.

The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who was represented by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr Ayodele Jinadu, said, “Nigeria as a country is a work in progress, and we must not throw our youths into the dustbin of time. We owe the community, the state and the nation our collaborative effort in making things right.”