Nigerian youths and 2023 general elections

 

The seventh consecutive general elections in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic hold next weekend and early next month, precisely on February 25 and March 11, 2023. I have been invited to several media and civil society fora to speak on the role of Nigerian youths in the forthcoming polls. There is no gainsaying the fact that this vibrant, irrepressible, articulate, highly cerebral Gen Z who are between 18 and 35 years will determine the way forward for the country at the elections.

When that distinguished psychiatrist from Martinique, Frantz Fanon, said in his classic book, “The Wretched of the Earth” that “Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity,” he was indirectly referring to the youths of society.

The following are what Nigerian youths have been doing in the lead up to the forthcoming polls and roles they will be playing at the elections. As you may well be aware, the electoral cycle is in three phases – Pre-election, election and post-election. In the course of preparing for the elections, Nigerian youths volunteered with the Independent National Electoral Commission to register voters during the Continuous Voter Registration which took place between June 28, 2021 and July 31, 2022. The commission also made use of Nigerian youths as registration officers. They were likewise used to distribute the Permanent Voter Cards which was suspended on February 5, 2023.

In the pre-election phase, arising from the much touted “Not–Too-Young-To-Rule” alteration of the age qualification for certain political offices in the Nigerian Constitution in 2018, many Nigerian youths, aged between 25 and 35 have been contesting various political offices majorly councillorships, state houses of Assembly and House of Representatives. These are positions which have 25 years as minimum age requirement.  It is therefore not surprising that thousands of youths were nominated by their political parties as candidates having won their party primaries. It remains to be seen how they will fare at the general elections.

Also in the period under consideration, millions of Nigerian youths have registered to vote. According to INEC, youths (18 – 34) have the highest demography in the approaching election with 37,060,399 of them being 39.65 percent on the National Register of Voters. Of this number, 26,027,481 (27.8%) are students. Any wonder the National Universities Commission last week directed that universities and inter-university centres close between February 22 and March 14 ahead of the 2023 general elections?  This is to allow Nigerian students who may have registered at home during the 2022 eight months strike by university lecturers not to be disenfranchised. Again looking at the figures of those who have registered to vote in the forthcoming elections, middle-aged (35-49 years) are 33,413,591 i.e. 35.75% of the total registrants which INEC put at 93,469,008. An addition of 39.65 of the youths and 35.75 of the middle- age will give a total of 75.40 percent of the voting population in the forthcoming election.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, during his meeting with leaders of political parties on Monday, February 13, 2023, said that the commission was finalising issuance of 1,642,386 identification tags for the polling and collation agents nominated by the 18 political parties consisting 1,574,301 polling agents and 68,085 collation agents. It can be safely assumed that the bulk of these polling and collation agents are drawn from the youths’ category given the strenuous nature of the work they are expected to do on election day.

In the pre-election period, civil society organisations such as YIAGA Africa and several youth-focused organisations mobilised Nigerians especially youths to register during the Continuous Voter Registration. They organised musical concerts, seminars, town halls, radio jingles, television and newspaper advertisements including embarking on social media campaigns to mobilise youths to register and collect their PVCs. In a particular instance where I was a resource person, a youth group- Frontline Youth Creativity Initiative –even offered to give financial support to those who have registered to vote but have yet to collect their PVCs to be able to do so.

Ahead of the approaching poll, INEC recruited an estimated 1.4 million adhoc staff comprising presiding officers, assistant presiding officers I, II, and III, collation officers, returning officers, registration area centre technicians and registration area centre managers and other ancillary pro tem staff. They are the ones that will conduct the elections and are majorly sourced from the National Youth Service Corps scheme and federal universities. Given that only students who graduated below 30 years are mobilised to participate in the NYSC scheme, it shows that Nigerian youths are the ones who will conduct the 2023 general elections.

There will be over a million accredited observers who will go round the 176, 606 polling units where elections will hold next week (elections will not hold in 240 polling units according to INEC Chairman for security reasons). The bulk of these observers will also be youths between 18 and 35 years. They are expected to report fairly and objectively on the polls.

There is no gainsaying that over a million combined security forces that will be deployed to enforce and ensure election security before, during and after the elections will be youths. Though they will be under the supervision of their seniors, the bulk of accredited security agents who will police the polls will be agile and vibrant youths.

Another category of youths that will be involved in the forthcoming elections are the accredited journalists who will be trained and deployed to report on the conduct of the election. It is also important to mention those who will be offering logistic support to INEC in terms of movement of election personnel and materials.

There will be over hundred thousand of bus, truck and boat drivers engaged by INEC to help out in this onerous task of movement of election materials and staff. Even security agents will need drivers for their vehicles, accredited observers, journalists, polling and collation agents will need drivers to transport them around on election days. The majority of these drivers are youths as well.

The point being made essentially is that the 2023 general elections will be conducted by youths and the new set of leaders that will emerge from the 1,491 constituencies where elections will hold on February 25 and March 11 will be determined by the Nigerian youths. How the youth decide to play this pivotal role will shape the future of Nigeria. I enjoin all those great and irrepressible youths who have volunteered to play one role or the other to perform their tasks professionally and nobly. Those youths being sponsored to carry out attacks on political opponents and arson on INEC facilities should desist and join the train of noble and patriotic youths who would be applauded as having participated in democratic consolidation of Nigeria.