TheCable

Exactly one week ago when President Muhammadu Buhari spoke at a forum during the Commonwealth summit, he obviously did not anticipate the backlash.

Buhari had said many youth in Nigeria sit down and do nothing, yet expect to get everything free because their country is an oil producing nation.

He had been asked why he did not sign the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in Rwanda last month but his response was not only off-target, it hit the “uneducated” Nigerian youth below the belt.

TheCable had reported the story and within the twinkle of an eye, there was a massive backlash on social media — and the hashtag #LazyNigerianYouth started trending.

The hashtag has recorded hundreds of thousands of tweets and millions of expressions in less than a week.

The youth seized the opportunity to showcase to the world the ingenuity of their trade and expertise as Nigerians.

Comedians, musicians, and artists were not left behind. Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the musical prophet, was brought back to life to join on this trend.

The Page

The latest is the creation of a Wikipedia page tagged: “Lazy Nigerian Youths”.  Wikipedia described it as a social media outrage by Nigerian youth.

“The Lazy Nigerian Youths (Also known as “#LazyNigerianYouth” or simply “#LazyYouth”) is a social media revolt by Nigerian youths against their President, Muhammadu Buhari,” read the information on the page.

“While speaking at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Westminster in April Buhari said a lot of Nigerian youths have not been to school and they want everything free because the country is an oil-producing state. [1] But the Nigerian youths will not have any of it as they soon took to social media to protest against the comment of the number one citizen of the country.

“After a report of the event by TheCable Staff Writer, Mayowa Tijani[3], who happened to be the only Nigerian journalist allowed to attend the business forum, the Nigerian social media space went angry at the comment with millions of Nigerian youths tweeting about their ventures and how they work hard to make a living in a country that has done little to help her citizens survive.”

The Wikipedia page said the controversy had been received in different ways, with some using it as a business opportunity.

It also referenced a story TheCable did on Mayowa Tijani, the reporter who filed the report.