MINISTER OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT DENIES CALLING BBA WINNER,KAREN A ROLE MODEL

The Minister of Youths Development, Bolaji Abdullahi, has refuted claims that the federal government has endorsed the winner of the just concluded Big Brother Amplified (BBA), Karen Igho, as a youth ambassador. He spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the 'National Conference on Youth in the 2011 Elections and Strategies for Improved Participation in the Democratic Process' organised by the International Republican Institute (IRI) in Abuja.  What I see here is a rising tendency to be sexist in this country in a way that is not acceptable," he said. “I mean someone won this competition last year and he was hailed and hosted everywhere like if he was a hero. We didn’t know what he did in that house. Now, because Karen is a woman, therefore she is what? If it was a man that went into that programme and did all the escapades, will we be treating him like this?” What we did as a Ministry of Youth Development when we were informed that they will like to visit us, I mean, we welcomed them," said Abdullahi. "That does not mean the same thing as endorsing whatever she did or did not do. No one mentioned anything about role modelling. Nobody mentioned anything about being an ambassador. The minister was said to have called Bigbrother amplified winner karen igho a role model to Nigerian Youths.