and yet again we are back to the matter of where our “youths” the future of our tomorrow stands in the Nigerian political genre of today? A future that has been hijacked and constantly defined and re-defined by those who feel Nigeria is their personal property. Recently there has been a trickling but noticeable movement of politicians from PDP to APC (and probably vice Versa) in preparation for the pending 2019 elections. It seems we are set on another bout of recycled political personnel who I will refer to as “dinosaurs” for clarity.

This was not the plan when we raised the flag to fight corrupt practices that had become the norm in Nigeria via the Buhari and Osinbajo’s leadership. For many who supported the current administration, It was an opportunity to lay a better corrupt free foundation for the up and coming “youths” to build upon. However, so far so good, things are slowly looking up. Not as great as we expected with regard to actually prosecuting the culprits, to serve as a deterrent and set precedent within the court of law. But Nigeria has without any doubt changed from what it used to be.

It would be safe and fair to say that there has not been such a meticulous battle to recover Nigerian monies the way the present administration have done since independence. It is obviously a new innovation that brought about a magnitude of resistance hence, the not so straight-forward result.

Now let’s talk about the more important matter of how we transition from the old ways to a new political framework that eliminates social status requirements, God-father endorsements and “egunje” activities to gain unfair voting points by those whose names are forever dominant in the political realm of Nigeria.

My first question(s) are where are these so called “youths” we keep talking about? 2019 is just around the corner and I have not seen any potential youth aspiring or making a reliable pledge to lead Nigeria out of our current predicament. Are they even ready to take on the dinosaurs and their deeply rooted pack in Nigeria? What are their values? I ask again, who are they?

So the next set of questions would be; how do we go about mobilising our political youth who wish to reform our beloved nation? How do we bring them forward for acceptance? How do we move ourselves out of the Stone Age to the 21st century? The answer lies with us; the “Nigerian people”. Sometimes a community has to come together and seek out a potential leader of their choice, rather than have one forced on them.

A community can sponsor a promising candidate if they want to. It depends on how desperate they are. Besides we are more in numbers than all politicians put together. We are also a federal state. Why not use the sub-governmental structure right from the lowest local government officials to our advantage? We can build it up from the grassroots until we finally take our nation back at federal level, from those holding on to it.

Bringing the youths into the equation will obviously take a lot planning, planning that should start from now. It is no child’s play and not for the faint hearted. I call it a “bloodless coup” because Nigeria’s transition is long overdue; it is our right and as such no one should lose their life in the process. We must come forward with a formidable force that has never been experienced in Nigeria before and that will take more than guts.

I reiterate that joining up with parties like APC and PDP et al will only make things worse and more so, continue to suffocate new bloods. We know what they are all about and encouraging the younger’s is not one of them. Nigeria runs a multi-party system and currently has “29 registered political parties” (including the popular APC & PDP). It makes you wonder why the others are grossly dormant? There is no legal limit to the amount of political parties we can have in Nigeria so why not jump in the deep-end and register another if the ones on ground are not accommodating?

We need to stop our passive attitude to matters that directly concern us and avoid playing into the hands of those who already know our predictable game moves. Whether we like it or not, we are collectively responsible for what happens in Nigeria.

Constant complaining about how our youths are being sidelined by current and previous governments without a feasible solution on ground or a foreseeable plan for the future is a complete waste of time. We’ve been doing that for too long. Sadly, we are a nation that truly sounds like a badly scratched record.

My final appeal goes thus:
If you are a “youth” as well as an aspiring politician, willing to give your all, to reform Nigeria, let us know who you are. Put yourself out in the public domain. Take a chance on the Nigerian people. 2019 is our time to make it right. We simply cannot afford to miss anymore opportunities…

http://ikengachronicles.com/2019-redefining-the-role-of-the-political-youth-in-nigeria/