As the 2023 elections approach, two major political aspirants have come out openly to declare their interests. The two individuals, Bola Tinubu; National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar; an ex-Vice President of Nigeria, are not new in the country’s politics.
Tinubu played a huge role in taking South-west politics to the Federal level from the days of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to the now ruling APC and its common knowledge that he has been eyeing number 1 seat in the country.
He has built a formidable force across Southwest states and seen by his admirers as a trait of a great leader whose judgment on national issues should be respected, particularly for his role in ensuring that President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015 and 2019 respectively. .
POLITICS NIGERIA reported that Atiku on the other hand has had a strong aspiration to lead Nigeria since his first outing in 1992 when he contested alongside Moshood Kashimawo Abiola for the presidential ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He has repeatedly contested and has the followership to give the APC a good fight in the general elections.
The two major contestants currently in PDP and APC are certainly not interested in allowing younger ones to take charge.
This was made public at the palace of Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the Alaafin of Oyo, when Tinubu openly said Nigerian youths would only lead the country after he had fulfilled his lifelong ambition of ruling the country as a president.
“You won’t allow the elderly ones to pass and you haven’t become president. What if you become president, will you chase us out of town? You will grow old and become president. But I will become the president first.” the 69-year-old politician said.
For Atiku, the youths need to compete with his contemporaries if they really want to contest in the 2023 elections. He made this position during a visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his Abeokuta residence.
Speaking with a straight face said, “let the youths compete if they want power.”
Long reign of disbelief in youths
For years now, Nigerian leaders have not seen the youths in a position that could place them in the drivers’ seats. The incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 said Nigerian youths are lazy.
“More than 60 per cent of the population is below 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing, and get housing, healthcare, education free,” he said.
In an interview with the BBC Hausa in 2010, Ibrahim Babangida, ex-military president said youths are not capable of leading Nigeria. For him, “a country like Nigeria cannot be ruled by people without experience.”
Aside from these individuals, many others have argued that young Nigerians prefer to rant on social media, particularly on Twitter than taking proactive steps to lead the country. Political pundits have also said 2023 does not appear like the year for the youths and if there would be change, they should start preparing now ahead of the 2027 elections.
Money as hindrance?
In the true sense of it, the APC and the PDP are the two major parties in the country and except there is a miracle, the two parties will continue to produce who governs Nigeria.
The danger attached to this is that despite the fact that the law provides that a 35-year-old person can run, the two major parties in the country have failed to do a review of nomination form fees for office seekers to deepen inclusion, and strengthen national democracy.
The gubernatorial expression of interest and nomination form sold for N1 million and N20 million respectively in the PDP in 2019. The party charged N12 million for both the expression of interest and nomination form for the Office of the President, N3.5million for Senate, N2.5million for House of Representatives, and N600,000 for the House of Assembly.
In APC, it sold expressions of interest for N5 million and N40 million for nomination form for the Office of President, N7 million for Senate, N3.5million for House of Representatives, and N850,000, for the House of Assembly.
“We should be looking for independent youths that will not go cap in hand to beg the old politicians to lend them the required funds. No old politician will bankroll the youths with his funds to retire him. If only the youths can reduce the money they spend on frivolities like clubbing and merriments, buying nomination forms and even funding their elections will not be a problem. They need to be independent minded if they will stand the chance to wrest power from the old politicians, former spokesperson of the APC, Yekini Nabena, opined.
In reaction to this, a veteran musician, Eedris Abdulkareem, has warned Nigerian youths to avoid joining the APC and the PDP.
“If you’re a youth and ready to contest for any position in 2023 please come out. The most important thing is to avoid the All Progressives Party, APC. Come out for the presidency , the House of Representatives just like Sowore, Yul Edochie,” he recently said in a video posted on Instagram.
As the agitation for the inclusion of youth in the governance of Nigeria continues to gain relevance, Omoyele Sowore, has expressed his views on how it could be achieved. He said “what we have now are young people who are mostly hungry, not for relevance and power but for picking up crumbs from the table of people who sometimes are not even as intelligent as they are.”
“Youths are the leaders of tomorrow”
The above quote has become a gospel without the truth in Nigeria. This has been the slogan since 1960 and the tomorrow that youths are expected to lead is yet to come. And the cycle goes on and on.
To make an impact in the forthcoming general election, there is a need to create innovative ideas that the electorate can buy into, building alliances/coalitions with various pressure groups and being ecumenical in movement with already existing coalitions or political parties.
To ensure youths get to power, they must take advantage of their numerical strength and queue behind a candidate that will make a difference in their lives. More than half of all voters, 51.1 percent, are between 18 and 35, according to INEC. Hence, 2023 is a year to form a critical mass as witnessed during the #EndSARS protest and be a part of the decision on who becomes next president of the country.
My only consternation from the piece bugs down on what could be defined as the age of a youth. All past heads of Nigerian states were below the age of 50 when they governed, before the second coming of the Otta brute in 1999. Including, I am not sure the supposed doctor of Zoology was above 50 years of age when he assumed the leadership of the states of Nigeria.
WHAT PART OF THE CONSTITUTION PRECLUDES THE YOUTHS FROM ASPIRING TO THE HIGHEST OFFICE IN THE NIGERIAN LAND?
What are the cravings for a special breed status for the youths all about? Anybody who wish the office should go out and work for it. It should not be given to any age group on a platter.
““Youths are the leaders of tomorrow”.
TIME TO DISCARD AND DUST THE ABOVE APHORISM IN RELATION TO THE NIGERIAN YOUTHS. SHOULD Yahoo BOYS LAY CLAIMS TO THE PRESIDENCY, ALSO OR SHOULD THEY BE CONSIDERED AS “leaders of tomorrow”?