A group, Nigerian Youths Alliance (NIYA) has on Saturday decried the sack of 35 Presidential aides attached to the office of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

The group in a statement by its chairman, Akinsiji Ololade and Secretary, Adamu Tahir, although acknowledged the constitutional right of the President to ‘hire and fire’, but described as unfortunate that the purge was deliberately targeted against the youths being described as agents of the change that brought the President to power.

According to the statement, “considering that the Presidency has not hinted that the sacked aides committed any specific offences, it is therefore safe to say the young men and women were relieved of their job because of President Buhari, who himself first became President at a young age of 40.

“For a President who has consistently overlooked the youth constituency in almost every major appointment since 2015 to now sack 35 youths at once is nothing but a direct assault against youth population.

“This is why we demand that every Nigerian youth who knows that the future belongs to us, and not a group of retiring octogenarians, to see this sack beyond a few young people losing their jobs. It is clearly a battle against youth political inclusion, and every young person will do well to rise in defence of our collective political destiny.

“At time youths across Nigeria are beginning to celebrate the gains of the ,’#NotTooYoungToRun’ campaign which has propelled many young people into leadership positions in States across the country; we cannot not fold our arms while the same President we brought to power through the sheer strength of our youthful energy and ideas send us backward by many years.

”The youths of Nigeria are no doubt beginning to make significant inroads into the politics and governance of Nigeria, and this latest sack of young people without any justification is a deliberate scheme to thwart the progress we’ve made so far.

“All pro-youth groups must therefore rise up now to defend our future from a small clique of the old generation who are bent on spoiling our today and tomorrow.

“There is no achievement that is worthwhile if it is not sustainable, and we do not see how we can sustain whatever progress we’ve made if the youths are not made partakers and part-owners of all future dreams and aspirations”.

The group called on Nigerian youths to rise up in the defence of collective progress and future as young people,

Besides, it urged President Buhari to provide justification for the sack of the young aides or reinstate them if they have committed no offence. stressing that Nigeria belongs to both old and young. (The Nation)

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