The Atiku Care Foundation has called on the Nigerian youths to remain resolute and committed to the peace, unity and progress of Nigeria at all times.
In a statement on Sunday to commemorate the maiden November 1, 2020 National Youth Day, Director-General of the Atiku Care Foundation; Amb. Aliyu Bin Abbas, commended the youth for the resilience and value addition to the nation in different areas of engagement over the decades.
“It takes only very vibrant, hardworking and patriotic younger people to keep faith in our nation in spite of many challenges being confronted especially considering the economic, social and infrastructural deficits.
“As we salute your doggedness, there is no other country to own as ours; we must therefore redouble the faith in Nigeria’s continued peaceful coexistence and continue to support innovations that promote nation building and fellowship across boards,” the ACF leader said.
The organization said the rare love and partnership displayed by peaceful #EndSARS agitators recently reflects that the nation can outgrow ethnic, religious and partisan sentiments and build consensus while demanding good and impactful governance.
“While commending the patriotic impact of the protest, the Atiku Care Foundation condemns in strong terms, the violent hijack of the protests by hoodlums and the looting and destruction of public and private properties by perpetrators. This is a setback to the nation and must not be condoned,” the statement read.
The organization commended the Federal Government for its preparedness to implement the Five-point demands of the protesters and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to further engage the youth in developing policies that are most acceptable to them; reminding the government that the youth deserve protection not brutalization or intimidation from those paid to offer them security.
“The Nigerian youths are one of the best in the world; they have shown this through industry and excellence in different fields of engagement that no one should doubt that if given the right environment and infrastructure, the younger generation will place our dear nation on the path of accelerated development. We therefore call on government at all level to stimulate friendly programmes in the areas of skills and empowerment and as well place top priority on education and research through which many challenges threatening our nation could be solved.
“The youths must not get discouraged by recent events; rather, it must be embraced as opportunity to improve the confidence to reinvent and rebuild Nigeria through peace, harmony, tolerance and acceptance across the nation,” the ACF noted.
