President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday justified his statement that Nigerian youths are lazy, though he also claimed that the media twisted his comments on the issue.
Buhari, who spoke with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America in Washington, United States of America, accused the media of doing just what it wants to.
Buhari, who was asked to respond to his comment on Nigerian youths being lazy while in London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, said: “You know they say we are between 180 and 200 million people in Nigeria and 60 per cent are the youths below the age of 30.
“In the North, for instance, most have not attended school or they abandoned halfway.
“If not because we had favourable rainfall in the past two seasons, most of them have no job, just idling away.
“People like them, even if they go to the South, for instance, what they will make will not be enough to even pay their rent let alone feeding, clothing and transport back home.
“That has not been explained enough and you know the media, especially the print, are simply doing whatever they like.
“We had two successful farming seasons, people went to farm and did very well, but no one is talking about that; only insults.
“That is why the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, had to respond to the letter of insults released by (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo.
“We spoke about it and I asked him not to respond but he refused and said he would just respond by stating the situation we met the country, where it is now and what has been done in-between and the monies we are getting.”
Buhari said God will judge past happenings in the country as the Peoples Democratic Party that was in power for 16 years left only debts for his administration despite the huge revenues from oil.
He said: “Recently, I had to come out and state that from 1999 to 2014, anyone who carries out a study here in America or Europe or India will know that we were producing 2.2 million barrels of crude oil daily at a price of at least $100 per barrel.
“In those 16 years of the PDP rule, Nigeria was getting 2.1 million x $100 every day, every week, but when we came on board, the price fell to between $37 and $38 and hanged around $40 and $50.
“I went to the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) – the governor of CBN is here – and asked him how far and he said nothing was left apart from debts.
“I said but this is what the country made?
“And he said yes, he knew.
“And I asked him where is the money?
“All is gone.
“Nigerians know that there were no roads or rail lines, there was no power, despite the billions of dollars spent.
“Only God will judge this thing.”