If you must be thugs, Let the politicians’ children lead, Tambuwal tells youths

Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has called on Nigeria youths to resist being used as political thugs as the 2015 general elections draw nearer.

He told the youths that if any politician invites them into political thuggery, they should ask him or her to present his children to lead the squad.

The Speaker stated this yesterday while delivering a goodwill message at the opening ceremony of a two-day annual conference of the northern Youth Wing of Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) in Kaduna.

According to Tambuwal, who was represented by his adviser on legal and legislative matters and a former member of the House of Representatives, Chili Adangwa, youths should do better things for Nigeria than the roles some people ascribe to them.

His words: “As youths, you should not allow yourselves to be used as thugs and if anyone does call upon you to come out and act as a thug, ask his own child to be involved first before you can join.”

The Speaker also advocated for tolerance among all the religious organisations in the country, adding that if all adherents of the Christian and Islamic faiths lived strictly by the teachings of the holy books, the culture of killing in the name of the Lord would not permeate any multi-religious society.

Speaker Tambuwal emphasized that though multi-religious, Christianity and Islam were the two dominant faiths in the country, stressing that the Bible and the Quran have peace as the centre of teaching and do not advocate violence.

Tambuwal said the stigma of violence, which was being ascribed to Nigerian youths, should be addressed by the combined efforts of the youths, government and the society.

“I make no pretensions of the high incidences of unemployment of our youth and concomitant disposition to violence as an expression of frustration; I am nonetheless, persuaded that violence is not a helpful alternative, rather constructive effort at addressing the issue,” he said. - Osun Defender News