The return of Nigeria to democracy in 1999 gave room for expression of suppressed age group, ethnic and social demands bottled up by decades of repressive and tough military rule.
Nigeria is distinguished with her high diversity, however, the heterogeneity of the Nigeria society is not limited to its numerous ethnic groups and languages, different age groups and their demands also make an integral part of this heterogeneity.
As various ethnic groups complain of marginalization, age and gender groups equally complain of marginalization. Generally, these issues are not new to Nigeria, since independence in 1960; the country has recorded great challenges and strong agitations resulting from perceived marginalization by an ethnic, age, social or religious group.
Assessing the nation’s political formation since 1960 till date, Nigeria has been ruled by the same group of elites who compete for her power and resources. This singular situation has left the saying ‘youths are tomorrow’s leaders’ a mere rhetoric in Nigeria.
That young people are taking centre stage in the affairs of the world cannot be overemphasized, with revolution in information, communication and technology at the dawn of this millennium, young people have continued to act as playmakers in innovations, social welfare, advocacy among others.
With one of the largest populations of youth in the world, young people in Nigeria are not behind in trending with other youths across the globe; according to the National Bureau of Statistics in its 2012 national youth survey report; youths of working age, in the age bracket of 15 to 35 years are nearly 70 million persons in a population of 166 million Nigerians, this implies that 54% of the Nigerian population are youths.
That youth constitute Nigeria’s hope for a real future has been attested to by many of her leaders, former president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo expressed this when he said “identifying and addressing issues that would enhance the lives of the youth would improve overall national development”.
Former president Jonathan also expressed his confidence in the ‘to be’ of Nigerian youths when he promised to focus on youth empowerment. In same vein, the incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari had said his anti-corruption war is to secure the future of Nigerian youths. These statements are inspiring, but seem far from realization.
Despite the fact that each government promised varying degrees of youth involvement, the outcome negates the expectations of the youths. Described as energetic, passionate, strong willed and determined, the average Nigerian youth complains of been marginalized in post-election political activities.
An illustrious example is the dominance of same political class since independence. In Nigeria, where the tradition is to be chosen or endorsed for a leadership position, the chances become slimmer for young people to assume leadership position. This explains why many young people believe that participating in politics without a strong sense of been called by the ‘ruling class’ is a waste of time.
This is unfortunate, Nigeria still battles with one of the major fall outs of social forces of
democratization and globalization which have brought into prominence, issues concerning young people. Youths are dominant stakeholders in deciding election outcomes in Nigeria, with unusual and experimental ideas strong enough for social change.
While Nigerian youths lament exclusion in government, a progressive approach needs to be embraced in tackling this. The recognition of youths in government will be earned and not given; youth participation in governance can reduce conflict, boost productivity and increase maintenance of law and order.
The contributions of Nigerian youths to social order is increasing, though their individual and collective efforts have not been much rewarded by the government, youths must fight for a place for themselves in policy making and governance in the nation.
The youth population which has been placed at 70 million can decide election result; this implies that young Nigerians can support young candidates who will represent their collective interests. Through such involvement, youths are empowered to play vital roles in their own development.
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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija
Rotimi Olawale is Media Assistant to Speaker of Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Razak Atunwa. He tweets from @RotimiLawale
