Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, has described his proposal for the recruitment of fifty million youths into security agencies as a verbal mistake.
Mr Tinubu had at the 12th colloquium in his honour yesterday in Kano State suggested that more recruitment should be made to tackle worsening insecurity.
Citing the rising figure of unemployment which is on the rise, the All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftain said 50 million youths should be recruited into various security agencies to lessen unemployment and improve security.
In a statement by his media aide, Tunde Rahman, the former governor has backtracked, describing the comments which irked critics as a verbal mistake which no one is above.
“Asiwaju seeks the expansion of security personnel by 50,000 for the armed forces not the 50 million that was mentioned in error,” Mr Rahman said. “It was an accidental verbal mistake of which we all commit from time to time especially when reciting a series of large numerical figures.
“He did not mean 50 million, which is almost a quarter of our total population. The crucial matter is that Asiwaju rightly observed that such strong recruitment would serve the twin-purpose of helping to tackle unemployment while at the same time enhancing the security of every Nigerian.
“Please forgive any confusion due to this innocent error. The most vital thing is that he set forth a wise and timely approach that would help us face two of today’s stiffest challenges.
“It is in the spirit that we hope you view and assess his proposal for it seeks to provide a way for more youths to participate in building a greater, safer and more prosperous country,” the aide added.
