PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari explained on Friday that Nigeria was under pressure to perform in sports competitions because of its vast natural and human resources which he said had placed the country in a difficult position.
He said the expectation of the world for Nigeria to perform has put enormous weight on the country.
President Buhari was speaking at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while receiving the National Planning and Implementation Committee of the first National Youth Open Water Swimming Competition, tagged Youth Unity Cup 2016.
The committee is led by former governor of Kano State, Senator Kabir Gaya.
The president said Nigeria must therefore justify the expectation by proving that it could produce competitive individuals.
He said: “Our size as Nigeria, our natural resources and our population have put us in a very difficult position, not only in Africa, but throughout the world.
“Everybody expects Nigeria to perform because of our quality human and material resources. So this is putting a lot of responsibilities on especially the youth.
“We just have to be up and doing in order to show Africa and the rest of the world that our size and number are not for nothing. We should prove that we can produce competitive individuals and we are able to manage ourselves.”
He urged the participants to work hard “to be more competitive so that you can justify our size and our resources.”
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