President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigerian youths to acquire knowledge not towards getting government jobs as there are no “jobs in government anymore”.
He also urged youths to acquaint themselves with history to avoid making the same mistakes of the past.
Buhari, according to a statement signed on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this when he paid a Sallah homage visit to the Emir of Daura, Faruk Faruk, at his palace.
The statement is titled ‘Train, educate your children on right values, the world is changing. President Buhari tells Nigerians.’
The president implored parents to inculcate the right values in children, including deep fear of God, respect for constituted authorities and living a purposeful life through continuous education.
“We should ensure the children get proper education. The knowledge they acquire should not be towards getting government jobs.
“We don’t have jobs in government anymore. With technology, governments are becoming smaller, nimble and efficient.
“Emphasis should now be on skills acquisition and competence in creation and deployment of technology. During the COVID-19, we asked all level 12 downwards to stay at home, and surprisingly, the systems worked effectively”, the President said.
He also noted that the younger children should be guided and taught history, as they would find it hard to be patriotic, responsible and respectful, without a thorough understanding of their backgrounds.
“Whoever does not have a good sense of history will easily make mistakes”, he said.
President Buhari told the Emir of Daura, DrFarukFaruk, that he would be more regular in visits, preparatory to the handing over in May, 2023, adding that the prolonged absence was due to the demands of his office.
“This is the longest I have been away from home. In fact, the Emir took to the court of public opinion at the prayer ground, when he openly told everyone that I had not visited Daura for close to a year”, he said.
He urged all Nigerians to make sacrifices to move the country forward, especially the public servants, calling for more selflessness and inclusion.
“In the end, it is only God that can reward your efforts, not man”, Buhari noted.
In his remarks, the governor of Katsina State, AminuMasari, who accompanied the President to the Emir’s palace, claimed that, having fed at least 863,000 children under the school feeding programme in Katsina, “no government in the history of this country has done more to reduce poverty like President  Buhari’s administration”.
He said every contrary view is held by those who “only think of themselves” and are “never appreciative until something gets to their pockets”.
Masari urged religious and community leaders to “bring enlightenment to bear on successful government programmes such as the Social Investment Program (SIP) through which 120,000 poor citizens in 12 Local Government Areas of the state receive a monthly payment of N5,000 and this is happening in all the states.
“Today, we have over 863,000 children in the state being fed under the school feeding programme. This has created 10,000 jobs for women cooks, 14,000 young men and women enrolled in N-Power.
“We have food vendors who are engaged and earning their livelihood. All the foolish talk on social media is by those who only think of themselves. Our elites are never happy or appreciative until something gets to their pockets”.
Masari who said security in the country had improved considerably under Buhari lamented that “human beings forget easily”.