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Hello fellow steemians, thanks for visiting my blog today. I'll be talking about the political situation in my country Nigeria regarding the forthcoming presidential elections.
As Nigeria gets ready for its general presidential elections come 2019, the political arena is not too cool. Now the question arises, Who is going to emerge as the president of this great nation in 2019? Is it going to be another old man or there’s going to be the emergence of a young brain? These questions have formed the topics of debate lately in Nigeria.
Since Nigeria started the Democratic system of government in 1999, room has not been given for young people to emerge president. No man below the age of 50 years has become president. Ranging from Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo, Al. Musa Yar Adua, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to the incumbent president, Al. Muhammad Buhari, all have assumed office above 50 years of age.
And with the current instability in the economy of Nigeria, much blame has been attributed to the fact that we have a president who is too old
to rule sitting on the seat of power.
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And as well meaning Nigerians who seek the progress of this country peer into 2019, the propaganda has been "We need a young president."
Age of Nigerian Presidents vs Other Countries
When we look into the ages of most Presidents who have assumed the leadership of their countries, we see a wide gap between them and the age of the youngest democratic president in Nigeria, who happened to be Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who assumed office at the age of 55 years.
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In other African countries, we've seen young people emerge as president. For example, the youngest president in Africa, Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo assumed office at the age of 45 in 2001.
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Veering away from Africa to the global scene, we see a young woman of 29 years old, Vanessa D'Ambrossio emerging as the president of San Marino in Europe, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, 32 years of age, Saleh Ali al-Sammad of Yemen, 38 years old and Emmanuel Macron of France, 39 years old.
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As we journey into 2019, will Nigeria emulate these examples and vote into power a young president?
Not Too Young To Run
The clamor for a young president in Nigeria is not something that will happen just by wishful thinking. The age restriction allowed for presidential candidacy is backed up by law. Currently in Nigeria, the law does not give room for anyone younger than 40 years old to become the president. That’s why there was a new proposed bill, #NotTooYoungToRun Bill to reduce the age of eligible presidential candidates from 40 years old to 35years of age. This will give room for young minds below the age of 40 to contest for president. But until this bill is passed into law, our dream might just remain an illusion.
WHO ARE THE YOUNG AND DARING NIGERIANS WHO WANT TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT?
As the time gets closer, we have witnessed some young Nigerians who have raised their voices and are aspiring to contest for the next presidential election. These are bright, bold and daring young people who believe that Nigerian citizens deserve better.
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I am going to mention just three of them here.
Adamu Garba II, Founder/CEO, IPI Solutions Nigeria Limited, 36 years old from Adamawa State.
SourceAhmed Buhari, CEO Skylar Inc.
SourceFela Durotoye, Lagos-based Motivational speaker and Leadership coach.
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These and many more young people are ready to take over the leadership of this nation. Question is will the dream of Nigerians for a bright and young president come true? Will the old people give room for the young?