Can Nigeria bridge the youth gap in governance?

The assent to the ‘Not Too Young To Run Bill’ by former President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, May 31, 2018, was a milestone…

The assent to the ‘Not Too Young To Run Bill’ by former President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, May 31, 2018, was a milestone in the drive to boost youths inclusion in governance.

For the youths, their time had come to take the drivers’ seat with the passage of the Bill which has emboldened the Nigerian youths to take leadership positions.

The bill which was passed by the 8th National Assembly altered Sections 65, 106, 131, 177 of the 1999 constitution to reduce the age qualification for President from 40 to 30; Governor from 35 to 30; Senator from 35 to 30; House of Representatives membership from 30 to 25 and State House of Assembly membership from 30 to 25.

Indeed, the signing of the Bill opened the floodgate of opportunities to many young people who could afford the high cost of running for political office in the country.

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Following the passage of the Bill and the presidential assent, 32-year-old Adebo Ogundoyin was elected to represent Ibarapa East State Constituency in the Oyo State House of Assembly in the 2019 election and he went on to be elected by his colleagues as the Speaker of the House. He has since been re-elected after the 2023 election.

Also, the election of Rukayyat Motunrayo Shittu, 27, into the Kwara State House of Assembly in the 2023 election was a momentous occasion for the Nigerian youth and a morale booster for other aspiring budding politicians.

However, despite Ogundoyin’s election and that of a few others, the percentage of youth in governance remains very low largely due to the inability of many young people to afford the humongous sum of money involved in vying for political offices. Besides, they are equally bereft of backers or godfathers that would drive their stint in political office.

Analysts say for many young people who are ambitious and with good ideas to be able to run for political offices successfully, there is the need for them to be properly nurtured by more experienced politicians and political office holders in addition to being appointed to positions that will prepare them for higher responsibilities.

Observers believe the youths hold the ace in championing robust governance and accountability. They are no longer seen as the leaders of tomorrow but the leaders of the moment.

In the run off to the 2023 general election, youths played pivotal roles across the political parties. They were not only active online but they took over the mainstream media in campaigning for their candidates. The turnout of the youths was also described as impressive despite the apathy witnessed during the election.

They led the charge in demanding accountability. They helped document the entire voting process by posting social media updates.

Young people also tried as much as possible to ‘defend’ their votes, with some remaining at polling units until the early hours of the following morning to monitor the collation process.

They did all these to show their disenchantment with the system and that they are ready to change the narrative of how politics is played in Nigeria.

With 53.7 per cent of Nigeria’s population aged 15 to 65 and a total estimate of 60 per cent youth population, Nigeria is undoubtedly the youngest country in Africa.

Young people made up around 76 per cent of newly registered voters, according to the INEC data, with 40 per cent of them identified as students. This explains why all the political parties recognised the youth voting bloc in the build-up to the presidential and state elections.

How youths fared in governance?

Despite the huge population of youths, there is the general conclusion among stakeholders that youths are under-represented in public offices whether in elective or appointive capacities.

With the role they played in the last elections by taking their destiny in their hands and being intentional in what they want, experts say there is the need to change the narrative by driving more youth inclusiveness in governance.

Chronicle of young people in governance

Our correspondent reports that some relatively young people have been given the chance to prove their mettle in governance and create impacts in their assigned responsibilities in addition to those elected.

Among those identified include the Chief Executive Officer of Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Ahmad Salihijo; the Director-General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Inuwa Kashifu; the National Youth Leader of the APC, Dayo Israel; the immediate past Commissioner for Finance in Kwara State, Florence Olasumbo Oyeyemi, another former Commissioner for Finance in Cross River State, Asuquo Ekpengong, among others.

The REA CEO Ahmad, born in 1983, has deployed his youthful zeal in the service of the agency which has been able to install over one million Standalone Solar Homes Systems, powering households, MSMEs and public facilities.

In NITDA, several strategic initiatives and projects designed to foster digital inclusion, accelerate innovation, create jobs and improve access to critical IT infrastructure across the country have been implemented.

In Q2 of 2021, the ICT sector contributed 17.92 percent to the National GDP and led to Nigeria’s exit from recession.

Mr. Inuwa is also credited with saving over N35bn ($84 million) of government funds since 2019 through the design and implementation of the IT clearance initiative across federal parastatals, amongst other achievements.

Dayo Israel, the APC National Youth Leader was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of African Descent (under 40) as part of the 2017 celebration of the UN Decade for people of Africa Descent at the One UN Plaza in New York.

A Henley Business School Young Leader, Dayo has twice been named in 2016 and 2017 as one of 50 UK’s brightest young leaders. He was recognised as one of the top 25 Promising Nigerian Youths under 35 to serve Nigeria in 2016 and as one of Africa’s top 30 most inspirational young people of 2013.

Dayo is a member of the British Council Global Change Makers Network and Alumnus of the US State Department International Visitors Leadership Program that has produced over 400 Heads of Government globally.

Florence Olasumbo Oyeyemi is a Certified Fraud Examiner and Management Consultant with over 10 years experience in Business Management, Educational Administration and Public Administration in both private and public sectors.

Olasumbo is the first female Commissioner for Finance in Kwara State, managing the fiscal policy strategy of the state.

Asuquo Ekpenyong was born on September 25, 1984. He is a Nigerian politician and financial analyst. He was the Cross River State Commissioner for Finance before he was elected Senator representing Cross River South Senatorial District in the 2023 Senate election.

Seun Fakorede (born May 22, 1992) is a Nigerian entrepreneur, speaker and politician. At 27, he became the youngest commissioner in Nigeria’s recent history when he was appointed Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Oyo State in August 2019 to July 2021. Seun was reappointed on October 11, 2021. He is the founder and director of non-profit Home Advantage Africa where he advocates for African patriotism among youths

To confront the leadership challenge in the country, experts say there was the need to give the younger generation a chance in governance in order to bridge the leadership gap and also give effect to the implementation of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run law.

A Public Affair Analyst, Tope Musowo, told our correspondent that the problem of Nigeria remains leadership and said it is high time the youth were given a chance to make a change.

He said, “There is no doubt that leadership is Nigeria’s greatest problem, if we must move forward, the government needs to look towards the youths in the appointment of professionals and experts into public positions.

“These recycled guys have failed us, some of them have been around since the Second Republic and they don’t want to go. You would agree with me that the youths are more ingenious, creative and some of them are doing well in their businesses.

“The Bola Tinubu administration needs to move away from the past, by giving more youths, who for me, can even perform better than these old ones. Give them a chance at governance.”

A Professor of Political Science at the Lagos State University, Sylvester Odion, called for more youths’ inclusion in governance.

He said the government must create specific positions for the youths in the hierarchy of public affairs in order to create a succession system for the not-too-distant future.

He also called for the strengthening of the Ministry of Youths at the federal and state levels, noting that the government can move beyond this by creating specific positions for youths to facilitate their transition into mainstream governance in the country.

He said, “Affirmative action by the government creates specific positions for the youths in the hierarchy of public affairs to inspire them as a successor generation.

“There are precedents in this regard. For example, governments at both federal and state levels in Nigeria have created ministries in charge of youth affairs.

“They can go beyond this to create positions that are dedicated to youth to facilitate their transition into the mainstream of governance in the country.

“More importantly, affirmative action should include freeing the youth from financial burden in the highly monetised electoral ecology that is Nigeria,” he stated.