>
Young Nigerians interested in politics have been urged to snap out of the euphoria generated by the recent signing of the “Not Too Young To Run” bill into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, and start dealing with the realities.
The Act, signed on June 1, 2018 following a massive #NotTooYoungToRun campaign, reduces the eligible age for aspirants to the position of the President from 40 to 35 years; for federal and state Houses of Assembly from 30 to 25 years. It however retains the age for governorship and Senate aspirants at 35 years.
At a seminar organised by the Ibadan School of Governance and Public Policy (ISGPP) on Thursday, young people were made to understand that the Act was not a political short cut to get into leadership positions.
Present at the seminar were Barr. Eze Onyekpere, Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice; Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital/New media; Mr Bayo Adeyinka, Life Coach and South West Regional Bank Head, Fidelity Bank and the Executive Vice Chairman of ISGPP, Prof. Tunji Olaopa.
Making the seminar’s keynote presentation on the theme, “Progress, Setbacks and Opportunities for Young Political Inclusion: A scrutiny of the Not Too Young To Run Act”, Barr Edem Ossai, former youth leader of KOWA Party, Oyo State chapter, stated clearly that “age is not a leadership quality”.
According to Ossai, “the act is afresh wind of hope and ray of sunshne to many young people across the country but it is not a political shortcut”.
She stressed that the Act does not help the youth to bypass the political party processes and the flaws in the political system which include cronism, nepotism, godfatherism, patronage and endorsements as well as the political economy which reflects in the cost of obtaining nomination forms and running electioneering campaigns.
Ossai, who is the Executive Director, Mentoring Assistance for Youth and Entrepreneurs Initiative, advised young people to join political parties and use their energy and new ideas to disrupt the existing order. She said the youth should form alliances across party lines, build and demonstrate competence in any given task and deepen their capacity.
“The age reduction law is not a silver bullet that will cure all your frustrations about the system. You must build and muster political capital. And that takes time, hard work, courage and competence” she said.
In his own intervention, Tolu Ogunlesi, urged young people to realise that naturally, there is no level playing field in politics. He stressed that unlike other sectors, there is no retirement.
“Politics is like a room. People are coming in but no one is going out. The Act has allowed more young people to come in but the older ones are not going anywhere because there is no retirement in politics except death.
“The issue, for me, should not be about running for office but participating actively and educating ourselves about how politics work, especially at the grassroots. What political parties are you building? It may interest you to know that some illiterate voters don’t even know the alphabets representing the parties not to talk of the names of the candidates which do not even appear on the ballot papers. They look out for the party symbols to cast their votes”
In his own speech, Bayo Adeyinka, asked salient questions: How competent were young people before the bill was passed? How well have they performed?”
He then went on to state that “Nigeria’s leadership problem is not an age issue. It is about quality. The fact that you are younger doesn’t make you better”
He stated further that young people should work more on the real barriers to entry which he listed as finance, networks and competence. According to him, young people could leverage on their understanding of social media to build the political capital required to face the realities on ground.
Speaking earlier, chairman of the occasion, Barr. Eze Onyekpere, wondered if the issue was about the age of the person or the age of his ideas. According to him, the ideas should be about problem solvmg rather than the age of the proponent of the idea.
He however questioned the nature of the country’s law guiding electoral age and age of responsibility. He wondered why the age of responsibility is 18 and at that age, a person is liable to civil and criminal law of the land, but not fit to be voted for.
Prof Olaopa, while stressing the need for mentorship and capacity building for young people, said: “The Nigerian youth are caught in between the crisis of leadership development and the failure of mentorship. The youth are the cornerstone for societal development. They are the wheel that drives development. These members of the society represent the most active category that should be mobilised, mentored and motivated for leadership. We need our leaders to pass the baton, invest in mentoring and training others and adequately prepare the next generation of leaders”