Political Empowerment for Youth‎s

The ‘Not Too Young to Rule Bill’ recently passed by the National Assembly has the potential to widen the political space‎, but there are hurdles which the bill must scale before it becomes law, writes Shola Oyeyipo‎

With the passage of the ‘Not‎ Too Young to Rule Bill’‎ by the National Assembly, Nigeria inches closer to giving the youths the opportunity to vie for elective posts at younger ages. At present, the Nigerian political turf is dominated by people within ages 50 and 70 bracket.‎

Whereas France became a reference point earlier this year with the electoral victory of 39 years old President Emmanuel Macron. San Marino has a 29 year old Vanessa D’Ambrosio as its leader. Other countries like North Korea, Qatar, Bhutan, Ireland, Yemen, Estonia, Ukraine and Belgium have some of the youngest leaders around the world. Except Begium where Charles Michel is 41, all the rest are younger than 40.

The previous system edged the youths out of seeking elective offices because one must attain the age of 40 before he or she could consider becoming a president. Likewise, you must have attained the age of 30 to be eligible to become a senator but with the alteration of section 131 (b) of the constitution, the age qualification to seek election into the House of Representatives and states’ houses of assembly was changed from 30 to 25 years while a 35 year old person can now seek election into the office of the president and 30 can contest governorship as against 35.

The implication of the previous scenario was that youths were relegated to only spectatorship roles in the Nigerian political arena. They can only vote for people, they cannot be voted for. The difference with the new law is that the window of opportunity is opened for youths to come into active politics as a block of people who are determined to takeover leadership because they constitute the most significant proportion of the Nigerian population.

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So, last week, when the Nigerian lawmakers, in the course of their ongoing constitutional amendment exercise, passed the bill, it generated a lot of excitement and commendations. For instance, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Srarki, on his twitter handle said: “We have laid a solid foundation for a new Nigeria that will create opportunities for our youths.”

The Youth Initiative Against Violence and Human Rights Abuse commended the Senate for passing the bill. It described it as a “giant stride” and one of the greatest achievements in the history of the National Assembly. She said the action taken did not only show that the lawmakers were on the same page with Nigeria’s founding fathers, but in line with global political best practice.

“All over the world, people are removing barriers that limit young people from actively participating in governance and Nigeria cannot be left behind. The passage of this bill is timely and essential to the growth of democracy in Nigeria and it will affect the common people on the street. We have hope in the capabilities of young people to move this nation forward,” she said.

Many believe that the development is good for the country. In all 86 senators voted in support of the bill while10 voted against it and one lawmaker abstained.

In his estimate of the Nigerian population based on the population of 140 million recorded in the last census, on an annual growth rate of 3.5 percent considered against other variables such as rising life expectancy rate and a reduction in infant mortality rate as at 2015, the Director-General of the National Population Commission (NPC), Dr. Ghaji Bello puts the Nigerian population at 182 million. He said of that figure, more than half were under 30 years of age.

On the other hand, in an update on the recently concluded nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, the chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu puts the Nigerian voting population at 71, 40,000.‎

Obviously, the youths constituted a significant number in the voting population of the country. Going by Bello’s estimate, of the 182 million Nigerians back then, those under 14 years account for more than 40 percent of Nigerian citizens and as at now, a lot of them have attained the voting age of 18.

These above statistics are strong enough for the youths to negotiate politically. For instance, with the affirmative action on women, political parties quickly found ways of accommodating more women in elective positions on their platforms simply to attract feminine sympathy. Same must go for youths immediately. Political parties must begin to readjust their constitutions to deliberately pave way for more younger Nigerians to pick tickets for presidency, governorship, state and National Assemblies on their platforms. Non-compliant parties will bear the consequence.

However, the passage of the bill by the National Assembly is just one of the critical steps to making the bill a law. Other hurdles remain.

For instance, section 9 of the constitution stipulates that the “National Assembly can only pass an Act to amend the constitution when its proposal to amend the constitution has been supported by two-thirds majority of all the members of each chamber and is approved by the resolution of at least two 24 Houses of Assembly of the States.”

Will 24 states agree to open the political space for the youths? ‎Those who pushed for the bill to pass at the National Assembly must roll up their sleeves and go back to work to make sure the states also pass the bill.

The other hurdle is whether the youths are ready to take the plunge. ‎ The youths will have to reinvent themselves. They will have to convince Nigerians that they will no longer be a willing tool for the political class to use as thugs during election before they can earn voters’ trust.

Just like women don’t like voting for one of their own, will the youths vote for one of their own when the time comes? That is another puzzle that will unravel when the bill finally has legal effect. Youths will have to set aside primordial sentiment by giving opportunity to one of their own to take over leadership position.

Those who argued against the bill cited the abysmal performance of youths in students unionism. Many wonder if youths that can not organise themselves at the students union level deserve to be given elective positions.

Given this opportunity, the youths must make the best of it. It is only wise to convince Nigerians in general that the future of the country really lies in the hand of the younger generation by exemplifying best practices and eschewing corruption for which the country has become infamous.

To take possession of the movement, the group that matched to the National Assembly and other groups that advocated for the bill and worked to give the bill life must not relent. They should form a formidable coalition of youth groups to draw up a template on which the bill can be useful to the people.

Youth organisations nationwide must quickly form a working synergy. They should draw up agenda on how to position themselves to take advantage the new law will provide them with.

Good as it is, there are those who believe that the amendment did not go far enough. Senate Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye, is of the opinion that even younger persons – even those as young as 18 years should not be prevented by age restriction since they enlist in the military at that age and pay the supreme price in some cases. So in his views, “If 18-year-olds can be enlisted in the Army, they should also be able to contest for elective positions. If you are old enough to die for your country, you are not too young to run.”

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State would have preferred a complete abolition of age restriction for elective offices.

“If a Nigerian, who is 18 years can vote, such a person should also be qualified to be voted for. The electorate, not the law, should determine his fate. Age is not a barrier to intellectual capability. Many countries have been successfully led by young people. General Yakubu Gowon became Head of State at 32,” he recalled, adding that “No nation that can develop without giving its youths opportunity to serve. There is nothing wrong in a 30-year-old contesting for the presidency. We must give the youths the opportunities early enough because the future belongs to them.”

But in a contrary argument, a young Nigerian himself, Dikko Muhammad, in a published opinion titled: ‘The Not Too Young To Run Bill And The Matters Arising’ argued that despite the opportunities the bill offers the Nigerian youth population and the possibilities that it is likely to contribute to their electoral fortunes in the near future, there are still impediments that may prevent a brilliant young man without a fat purse from maximising the opportunity.

“The ordinary young man has no money to spread around even if the forms are given free by the parties. The ordinary ‘nairaless, dollarless’ young man would not get the party nominations because primary elections are up for sales. But the sons and daughters of the same old people he despised would use their parents’ money to get to seats reserved for them by their parents. That would leave us in a Ta-leko-ta-koma situation.”

He was also bothered about the fact that most Nigerian youths still have a lot to learn in the area of leadership, saying that most of them are not matured and are not used to criticisms and the kinds of blackmail that come with politicking in the country.

However, whatever argument anyone has for or against the proposal, the truth is that younger Nigerians are happy with it.

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Will 24 states agree to open the political space for the youths? ‎Those who pushed for the bill to pass at the National Assembly must roll up their sleeves and go back to work to make sure the states also pass the bill.

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