President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday told the protesting Nigerian youths against police brutality that it was in their interest to keep peace.

The President, who reminded the youths that his own generation was on the last lap and was exiting, told the youth that maintaining peace would be in their own ultimate interest.

President Buhari stated this when he received in audience the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, Nigeria’s former Minister of Environment.

“Our own generation is on the last lap, we are exiting,” President Buhari said in response to the recent EndSARS protest, and the mayhem and destruction of public and private property that came in its wake.

According to him, “It is in the interest of the youths to keep the peace. They want jobs, infrastructure and development. I have sent a team led by the Chief of Staff (Professor Ibrahim Gambari) to go round the country, talk to traditional rulers, who will then talk to the youths. The views of the youths have been heard.”

The President in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, said that the current administration inherited severe infrastructural deficits, “and that is what we are fighting to correct. We can’t just sit, fold our hands, and do nothing. We are doing our best within the limits of resources.”

He rued the fact that COVID-19 has shrunk the global economy, noting that “this is something you can’t see, smell, or hear,” but which has wrought devastation on lives and livelihoods round the world.

On climate change, he said Nigeria was concerned about the recharge of the Lake Chad, which has great implications on security, irregular migration, and livelihoods.

The Deputy Secretary-General said she was on a courtesy call with her team to flag interest on challenges that concern the UN, particularly COVID-19, climate change, security, and humanitarian responses to the diverse challenges.