By Tunde Johnson
The Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to reconsider signing the Peace Corps Bill.
The party in a statement signed by Tosin Adeyanju, its National Publicity Secretary, said it received the news of the decline of assent of the Peace Corps Bill by President Buhari with great surprise.
Adeyanju said nothing indicated to the party that the President would withhold assent considering how passionate he believes in the creation of institutions to absorb the army of unemployed youths in the country and his recent call that all our schools will now be fully protected.
He said that APDA solidly holds the view that the establishment of the Peace Corps in the country should not be seen as a burden on “our resources but as a God-given opportunity to generate employment for our army of unemployed youths roaming about the streets and equally compliment the work of sister security agencies in area of protecting our schools to avoid the repeat of Chibok and Dapchi scenario in the future.”
The statement reads in part: ‘’This is therefore a clarion call on President Buhari to reconsider signing the Peace Corps Bill which he declined assent recently. The signing of the bill apart from helping to boost the security of the nation, it would also create openings for Nigeria’s army of unemployed youths to be employed.
‘’APDA noted that President Buhari has overtime proved to be a listening President and the action of the national assembly is the aggregate of Nigerians because they represent diverse interest across the country. Our listening president this is another opportunity to prove that to Nigerians by not dumping this Bill.
‘’The existing para-military agencies in the country are doing very well and complementing the other security agencies but are clearly not enough for our population of over 180 million people. Therefore it is in the larger interest of the nation for the Peace Corps to be established to bridge the gap.
‘’We appreciate the overwhelming support given the passage of the Bill by the National Assembly which is a sign of acceptability of the establishment of the agency by Nigerians.
‘’We therefore use this medium to urge Mr President to take a second look at the growth and development potentials in the Bill by signing it into law without delay.’’
The party national publicity secretary also noted that majority of Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the President to assent the bill, describing it as a noble task from the President who is largely seen as friend of the masses.
