Seun Kuti: Training corps members for war is great idea… I’ll join even at 38

Seun Kuti, Afrobeat singer, says training the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members for war is a welcome idea.

The spotlight had earlier beamed on Shuaibu Ibrahim, the director-general of NYSC, after he stated that members of the scheme are a part of the national defense policy of Nigeria and can be trained for war if need be.

The statement had sparked a plethora of mixed reactions on social media platforms. But in a rebuttal, the NYSC had explained that its DG’s comment was misrepresented.

In a chat with HipTV, Seun described the DG’s statement as one that “makes sense to me”. He also pointed out that he hadn’t served under the scheme because he saw no relevance to it.

The singer, however, said he is willing to join the combat training despite the fact that he is 38 years.

“That actually makes NYSC make sense to me. Since I’ve been hearing about the NYSC, it never made sense to me. That’s why I never strived to serve. We should all be willing to fight for our nation,” the pop musician stated.

“I think the Nigerian government cannot really take that step. Training young people for combat and giving them arms, I don’t think it will be quite safe for the government.

“Imagine a policeman trying to slap a combat-trained young man on the street. I don’t think they’ve thought it through. I welcome this idea. Train us. I’m 38 but I will join.”

Seun, who is the son of Fela Kuti, the late Afrobeat legend, also dubbed the federal government’s ban on Twitter a sign of weakness.

“It’s a complex situation. I’ve seen worse things on Twitter than what Buhari posted in terms of bullying and violent threats. Imagine what Trump was said as president. It was after he left they took down his Twitter page,” he said.

“That being said, Twitter is a US company. For a foreign firm to take down the tweet of a sovereign state, it quite stretching from the point of view of our citizenship as Nigerians, regardless of our relationship with our president.

“It is a slap on the face of the nation that Twitter took down the post of our president. The president’s response also is absolutely wrong, using his arbitrary power to take down Twitter when Nigerians don’t have their own option.

“And banning social media platforms doesn’t make sure. It doesn’t even work in China. Where they say Nigeria has gone to ask for help to block VPNs. You cannot block people from getting on any social media platform in this age.”

On the order by Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), to prosecute those violating the ban, he added: “My manager can tweet from London. Am I not a Nigerian? The president’s reaction is one weakness.

“He should be able to call Jack Dorsey for a meeting where he states his displeasure, fines Twitter, and we move on. But because we’re a weak country, we have to go to the extreme to prove our strength that is not really there.

“FG cannot prosecute anything, not even a fly. If you have money to pay for a lawyer, you’ll defeat the FG in any case. They don’t investigate, they don’t follow due process. They don’t even have good lawyers as prosecutors.

“Do you know how many governors have defeated FG in corruption cases where it’s glaring this man was corrupt? You can’t even enforce traffic [laws] but you want to enforce a Twitter ban. Please let’s talk about something else.”