By ‘Dotun Akintomide
Nigerian youths have been challenged to step up their participation in politics and governance to further strengthen the nation’s democracy, as well as drive development among the army of young people in the country.
The call came at an inter-party dialogue organized by International Press Centre (IPC) in collaboration with the UKAid and ActionAid to engage stakeholders on the importance of advancing youths participation in matters of governance.
At the forum, the Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Lagos, Mr. Waheed Ishola observed that for several decades in the past, the Nigerian political system has perfected a mechanism to ensure a continuous hoodwinking of the youths in matters relating to how the country is being governed, saying the youth must begin to formulate agenda and plans backed up with organized actions to establish themselves as the true drivers of democracy and good governance in the country.
“It’s important for the youths to begin to engage political leaders and play active roles in elections by participating fully in electoral processes, so as not to be relegated to the background.”
While tasking the youths to play leading roles in political parties, Ishola also cautioned that youths must learn to eschew violence and be forthright in their dealings with politicians.
The NOA director said, “Let us make sure we vote for credibility as youths and shun the monetary gains.”
Also, Mr. Hassan Soweto, an advocate for youth participation in politics who spoke as a panelist at the forum, lamented the contradiction that exists between the African rising youth population and the continent’s slow pace of development.
“Since the median age in Africa is 19, it has been established that while the rest of the world is getting older, Africans would continue to be younger for centuries to come, as the continent with the largest demography of young people in the world,” but argued that, “yet this is at variance with Africa’s developmental pace.”
Soweto noted that the Nigerian youths who constitute over 60% of the entire population form the largest block of voters in every election, but the age barrier in the constitution for contestants seeking political positions has continued to axed out the youths and has not allow for equal participation alongside the older generation. He called on the youths to push for a removal of the age barrier in the nation’s constitution before the 2019 general elections.
While calling on the youths to seek for economic powers before venturing into partisan politics, he averred that, “since election has become a huge investment in Nigeria, there is no way a youth that has been dispossessed of economic power, no thanks to unemployment will be able to garner resources to vie for position, let alone prosecute political campaigns.”
On his own part, Mr. Rotimi Sankore, also a member of the panel of discussion who spoke on the ‘Roles of Youths in Local Government Development,’ said the failure of governance at the grassroot level has led to the failure of government and collapse of democratic structures in Nigeria.
“And local government can’t function properly if the youth fail to challenge the status quo by bringing new innovations and ideas to the table,” he said.
