Your blog: Learning Never Ends, this time, exhibits a guest blogger in the person of Abdulraseed Hussain with his piece: 'Youth And Politics In Nigeria'. This is part of the blogger's commitment to serve you better. Abdulraseed Hussain is a brilliant student of Mass Communication at Kano Poly, who is just in his early twenties. Enjoy:
Meaningful democracy requires useful participation of youth. Young people have much to offer to societies. Youths in Nigeria constitute more than 66 percent of the nation's population and over 70 percent of youth are unemployed. There is no doubt that they are the strongest segment of any given society and every society that sidelines them in the political affairs of its state is liable to vanish. They have been the central part of activities in the run up to all elections in the past and present.
They can play a positive role in electoral process rather than engaging in political violence. However, the role that they have been playing in the past elections has usually been negative. Politicians have been using them to intimidate their political rivals.
As the 2015 Governotorial Election is approaching it's an incomplete story to talk about elections without mentioning youths who constitute 66 percent of Nigeria population. Unfortunately, in Nigeria the youths are actually sidelined in the affairs of the state in particular and therefore the lack of political participation of the youths is one of the problems in Nigerian politics today. People like Maitama Sule, Aminu Kano, Obafemi Awolowo, Samuel Akintola, etc. started their political life at youthful ages. Youth are the target audience of any politician or political party. In all advanced democracies all political parties establis institutions to train the younger ones as future politicians. But why not in Nigeria? The question here is can the youths of today possess the wisdom and determination as shown by our founding fathers? In order to meet these challenges, whether they can accommodate the analysis of their time. It is the duty of the youths to determine who should rule or they would continue to be misused and dumped.
The most important part to tell youths is that they should not allow themselves to be misguide by politicians as thugs and electoral manipulators. I hope youths have learn a lot of lessons from the past and would refocus for a better future.
(C) Abdulrasheed Hussaini 2015.
