The Media Adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has berated the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike over the empowerment given to some youths in Abuja as commercial vehicle drivers.
Ibe, in a post via his account on the X platform (formerly Twitter), cautioned the federal government against reducing Nigerian youths to mere taxi drivers.
He pointed out that most youths engaged in the business of commercial driving are not doing it out of their free will but due to the unconducive economic environment and the need to survive.
The position of Ibe follows an earlier statement by Wike on Thursday while giving out cars to some youths in the FCT to use for commercial driving.
In his speech, the Minister encouraged the beneficiaries not to be ashamed that they are being empowered to be taxi drivers, saying that many Nigerians who reject taxi driving jobs at home gladly embrace such when they travel abroad.
The aide of Atiku, however, disagreed with the submission by Wike and urged the government to stop denying Nigerians and the youths, in particular, the opportunity to enjoy a better life due to wrong government policies.
He wrote: “This is a big fat lie. First off, Nigerian youths did not create this economic situation that continues to serve them the wrong end of the stick. Megalomaniacs did and have continued to deny them opportunities through their trial-and-error policies.
“We know lots of youths who have taken to making a living of driving taxis be they green taxis (or any other colour depending on what part of the country they operate in, @Uber or @boltapp.
“By the way, is this what you want to reduce our youths to: driving taxis? Nigerian youths are better than that. They’ve proven time and time again that their limitations are the megalomaniacs that continue to mortgage their destiny!”
