Femi Fani-Kayode, Former Minister of Aviation, has condemned the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, over his call to recruit at least 50 million youths into the Nigerian Army to help tackle insecurity.
Tinubu had charged the Federal Government to take this step while speaking at a colloquium to celebrate his 69th birthday in Kano State.
Fani-Kayode while reacting to the statement of the former Governor of Lagos State, asked how the Federal Government would provide weapons for the 50 million youths.
He also questioned, how the Nigeria government will pay them or if they would fight for free.
The former Minister in a series of post wrote on his Twitter account, “You have asked for 50 million youths to be recruited into the Nigerian Armed Forces & everyone is clapping for you. Do you have 50 million weapons to give them or do you expect them to fight with sticks & stones?Do you have hundreds of millions of dollars to pay them?”
“Or they fight for free? Do you have enough food to feed them or will they fight on empty stomachs? Do you have enough accommodation to house & keep them or will they sleep in the streets & fields? Do you have enough vehicles, cars, buses, tanks, planes, fighter jets, boats, battle ships, aircraft carriers & submarines or will they walk, jog, swim & fly on a broomstick into battle?”
“Do you have enough hospitals to treat them in peace & war time or will you fly them abroad for treatment after they fall sick or have been blown up in battle by …rocket propelled launchers and land mines? Let us get real! It is not the size of the Army that counts or the number of soldiers you have but rather their fighting capability, professionalism, patriotism, discipline, training, logistics, supply lines, support and weaponry.”
“If you put all the number of military personnel together from the countries of the entire developed world, including Europe, America, Russia, China, Israel, Brazil, Egypt and Turkey, they do not number up to 50 million troops. Let us stop running around in circles.”
“If we really want to win the war against terror & save lives it is not about the number of soldiers we have but about the political will, patriotism, love for country & courage that our Government & every single one of us as citizens must cultivate and display as a people.”
“Without any or all of those noble qualities we do not have a hope in hell of winning any war, let alone one that is being waged against the first and fourth most deadly terrorist organizations in the world like Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen.”
