The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Monday cautioned that Nigeria may not escape another citizens’ restiveness in the mode of #EndSARS protest if it failed to effectively address the issue of youth unemployment and make practical steps in its national budget to meaningfully engage the youths.
The Senate President disclosed this when he formally declared open the 2021 budget defence for the Ministry of Agriculture before the Senator Abdullahi Adamu, All Progressives Congress, APC, Nasarawa West led Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.
Lawans said that some youths genuinely expressed their anger in recent #EndSARS protest and successfully gained government’s attention.
Recounting the events of #EndSARS, the Senate President warned that a good number of them who may not have had the opportunity to vent their anger are in the rural areas; pointing out that there was the urgent need to meet them in their needs.
Lawan advised 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.