Former President Goodluck Jonathan with President Muhammadu Buhari
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has disclosed that what Nigerian youths need was a leader who believes in them and gives them the platform to portray their talents.
You may recall that President Muhammadu Buhari while addressing the Commonwealth Business Forum in London, had said most Nigerian youths wanted everything free without doing anything.
However, Jonathan, in his Democracy Day message on posted on his Facebook page, stressed that Nigerian youths built Nollywood movie industry from nothing to the third largest film industry in the world.
He wrote: “On this Democracy Day 2018, I want to urge all Nigerians to pray for peace in Nigeria. We need peace in Nigeria. And it is up to you and I to ensure that our National Motto: Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress, is a reality and not just mere rhetoric. I urge Nigerians to understand and accept that nobody’s political, economic, religious or social ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.
“As this year’s Democracy Day falls on the holy month of Ramadan, let me seize the opportunity to also extend Ramadan greetings to the Muslim Ummah. As you pray for Nigeria, I join my faith with yours and look forward to our prayers being answered by Almighty God.
“There are many opportunities and crises on the horizon, but we must have the mentality of seeing the opportunity in crisis rather than the crisis in opportunity.
“We have one of the fastest growing youth population in the world and we must see this as an opportunity, not a crisis.
“As I said previously, Nigerian youths ARE NOT LAZY.
“What our youth need are opportunities to showcase their positive talents. They need leaders who believe in them and show affirmation for them through their words and actions.
“Democracy is a game of numbers and the youths have the numbers. More than 50% of our population are youths. If we develop policies, programs and projects to empower the youth of Nigeria, the Nigerian youth, who single handedly created Nollywood, the third largest movie industry in the world, can be expected to return the favour and make Nigeria proud.
“And they are already making us proud both locally and internationally.”