By Longtong Ibrahim
Youth groups present at an inter-party youth dialogue forum in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, have charged young people across the Country to take active participation in electoral and leadership processes instead of allowing themselves to be used as political thugs and praise singers of politicians who use and dump them after winning an election.
This was part of the outcomes reached during the meeting organised by League of Democratic Women (LEADS) in partnership with Actionaid Nigeria, in LEAD’s project of Strengthening Citizen’s Engagement in Electoral Process (SCEEP), held recently.
Participants at the forum identified ignorance, lack of mentorship, finance, religion, ethnicity and poor attitude towards political and electoral activities as some of the major challenges militating against their participations.
They were also of the opinion that as young people, who make up over 60 percent of the country’s population, they have the power to vote and be voted for, as such, it is degrading to be used as instruments of chaos and unrest in the society.
“We are supposed to be defenders of the country’s unity through active involvement in governance and electoral process so that our interest would be represented. We are in the era where there are opportunities, if we don’t grab it, this problem would continue”, Yusuf Kanhu said while coordinating the discussion session during the program.
Executive Director of LEADS – Nigeria, Mrs. Rebecca Sako John, in her remarks described the program as timely, saying the program came at a time the National Assembly have agreed to review the constitution and electoral law to allow young person’s to contest for electoral office.
According to her, if youths are given that opportunity, they have to be ready to take those positions. She said, “For now, it has been those people in the NGO world that are pushing, so now we want the youths to take charge of the whole process.
“If we have the young people left behind, then our democracy would not be complete become their voices might not be heard and their issues might not be well taken care of.”
She however called on the youths to take their role as active citizens very seriously and refuse to be use as thugs by their parties. “They need to see that they have things to contribute than just being thugs. if this people here can go out and take action and also mobilised other young ones to see that they take their role seriously as active citizens, they will begin to contribute to how this country is run.
“Even if they are not elected or appointed, they will begin to engage constructively with those elected or are in government to get their issues on the front burner and be responded to, which is the kind of change we desire to see”, she posited.
In its goodwill message, the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KASIECOM) said the Commission is ready to work with all organizations on the democratic process towards good governance.
Speaking on behalf of the Commission, Head of voter education, Mr. John Bulus noted that in election, citizens who are 18 years and above can vote and be voted for; explaining that, they also have a role of ensuring those elected are working to meet their needs by monitoring their performance, and in any case they fail, they have the right to recall them.
The meeting had in attendance youth groups from six local government areas of Kaduna state as well as state’s youth leaders of All Progressive Congress and the People’s Democratic Party.
