Bola Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged the Federal Government to recruit about 50 million youths into the Nigerian army, to tackle insecurity in the country.

The Jagaban of Borgu kingdom spoke on Monday at the 12th colloquium to celebrate his 69th birthday in Kano State.

The theme of the colloquium was ‘Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth: The Imperative Of National Cohesion For Growth And Prosperity’.

“We are under-policed and we are competing with armed robbers and bandits to recruit from the youths who are unemployed —33 per cent unemployed?

“Recruit 50 million youths into the army. What they will eat —cassava, corn, yam, will grow here”, he said.

The former Lagos governor also asked the federal government to create jobs for youths in the agricultural sector while reacting to the recent statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), that over 23 million Nigerians are jobless.

“Don’t talk about illiteracy, anybody who can hold a gun, who can handle a gun, who can cock and shoot is technically competent to repair a tractor in the farm,” he also said.

The APC chieftain, however, hailed Nigeria’s “very creative” youths, saying that, “They are angry, they are showing their anger but we will appeal to them.”

The event was virtually attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, who chaired the occasion and re-emphasised the essence of unity in the country.

Other dignitaries who virtually attended the event were: Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo; House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila; Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; among others, whose itineraries were disrupted by poor weather from Abuja airport to Kano