Fellow eSTEEMed Nigerians,
We've been regaled with polemics and dialectic as to how the time for youthful involvement in politics isn't any farther. Similitudes are drawn with other countries, forgetting the political peculiarities of our own country. We're quick to point out how a 24year old came to be leader in Austria forgetting that in this country of ours, an average 24year old is yet to graduate from the university. In worst cases, he hasn't even been admitted to study. So quick are we to curse "old men" in politics who have continued to lord themselves over us, genuflecting for votes, and hyperventilating our gold, because we've heard or seen a 39year old Emmanuel Macron become French President. We forget that an average 39 year old in this country is so enmeshed in family burdens that civil participation is something secondary to him. He spends his days working to pay house rents, school fees and feeding. If he was blessed with the "first born" title, he has to not only think of himself and his family. He is daddy to all, an umbrella of sort. How will this kind of person nurse the ambition of becoming a councillor? Talk more of being president?
Sadly, this is the political realities we have to put in mind when analysing Nigerian politics. We'll be doing ourselves a warehouse full of good if we stop the comparisons between Nigeria and other political climes. The #NotTooYoungToRun is however a good break out of the norm. Its like a light at the end of the tunnel. What is disheartening is the way some young men and women are trying to compare Nigeria and other places... again. In Nigeria, you can't win elections without having godfathers, the ones who sponsor and those that strategically place you in positions that are advantageous to your ambitions.
The first step for any young man or woman seeking to lead is to quit the highfalutin world of long social media essays and political discourses. You want to become a local government chairman? Go to the LG. Study it. Get the history. Identify the political landlords there. Know and study the people. Try selling yourself benignly. Then register yourself as a member of a political party. Political party that has the prestige and structure of supporting your ambition, not an "election-don-come" one. Make yourself known to the party members. The leaders of the party should be in awe of your loyalty. The cleaners at the party secretariat should be able to vouch for your humility and originality. Your friends should be to give testimonies of your honesty. Surround yourself with people who believe in your candidature and ambition. Improve yourself. Have an appreciable knowledge of history, economy,politics and geography. You should be able to answer simple economic questions when asked. Have this ability to be able to stomach criticisms. Be ready to learn and accommodate people of other ideas, beliefs and ideologies. Financial backing, the most important part, is something you should have taken care of even before you think of contesting. We'll have to ask the difference between you and the "old men" if you have to bend on one knee to collect monies from another person.
The "old men" won't disappear from Nigerian politics. They've worked hard to get to where they're. Little wonder they work assiduously to place their cronies in places of importance to boost their political standing. They do this because they can. Designing graphics and logos on Social Media won't challenge them in anyway. They've worked their way to the top and of we want to send them parking, work we must.
So this is my understanding and way of supporting the bill. What's your opinion and what do you have to say about the youths running positions in Nigeria?
