Youths seek law to boost representation in appointive positions — Rinsola Abiola
Rinsola Abiola is the daughter of late politician and businessman MKO Abiola. The young activist and Founder, Derinsola Abiola Foundation, in this interview, talks about youth involvement in politics among other issues. Are you satisfied with the level of youths involvement in politics? No, I’m not, and this goes several ways. The first is that […]
Rinsola Abiola
Rinsola Abiola is the daughter of late politician and businessman MKO Abiola. The young activist and Founder, Derinsola Abiola Foundation, in this interview, talks about youth involvement in politics among other issues.
Are you satisfied with the level of youths involvement in politics?
No, I’m not, and this goes several ways. The first is that as young people, we need to realise that we have a role to play in nation building, and that we must be active in deciding who gets to govern or represent us. Although we have many young people as members of political parties, those numbers could be better, especially in decision-making positions.
More young Nigerians need to take an interest in politics and all the processes involved, from how candidates emerge to how state resources are managed. I also acknowledge that we will not all be politicians, but we can certainly all be active citizens who fulfil our civic responsibilities by voting and ensuring that our leaders are accountable to us, the people.
On the other hand, we also need enabling policies on the part of government and political parties which will ensure greater youth mainstreaming. The National Assembly and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari have done well by giving us the Age Reduction Law, which is popularly known as the Not Too Young To Run Act; yet, we need a similar law to make sure young people are adequately represented in appointive positions across government institutions.
We also need political parties to enact policies which will help level the playing field somewhat for young people; for instance, women usually get a discount when purchasing nomination forms, and a similar gesture should be extended to young people.
Do you think the Nigerian youths have the opportunity to explore their political potentials?
I do not think that people need to be given opportunities, but that we must be able to recognize opportunities and take advantage of them. If we also believe that enough opportunities do not exist, then we must take it upon ourselves to create more.
During the last party registration exercise, the party announced that the register would be opened and urged all interested Nigerians to join the party. When such opportunities arise, young people must take advantage by getting into structures of this sort in large numbers, because it is then that we are able to bear enough influence to shape outcomes like who becomes a party official and who becomes the flag bearer.
How can youths utilise the Not-too-young-to-run bill?
We need to organise. It was effective organisation and collaboration that got the bill to pass, and we need to sustain efforts to ensure that we take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the law. I played an active role in the Not Too Young To Run campaign from within the party system and within the National Assembly, where I worked as a Special Assistant to the Speaker at the time that it was being considered, and I am happy that YIAGA, the civil society organisation which led efforts on the bill, has remained active in rallying young aspirants and preparing them for the arduous task of efficiently navigating the party system and running an effective campaign.
Would you say your party, APC has delivered its mandates?
I would say we have done well; in light of prevalent factors and the challenges we have had to face. This government has implemented the most aggressive and ambitious social investment programme in the history of our democracy, improved school enrolment statistics by introducing the school feeding programme, made considerable investments in infrastructural development that we all can witness and introduced commendable youth-focused initiatives such as the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund, among others. So no, things have not been perfect and there is more that can be done, but efforts made so far must be acknowledged.