By Adesina Tunmise Adeolu.
On the 31st of may 2018, the president of the federal Republic of Nigeria assented the bill Not-too-young-to-rule, and therefore was passed into law ACT 27 OF 2018.
This of course was an unprecedented victory in the history of Nigerian youth as the age limit for candidates to contest for elections was reduced making it possible for younger ones to contest for political posts.
We often talk about youth and involvement in politics, but the question we need to ask ourselves is that are the youth truly ready to embrace this responsibility put before them?
Youth constitutes more than half of our population in Nigeria that tells us that when we say youth, we're referring to a large amount of people who is not limited to by occupational grouping, financial status, ideology or lifestyle. We often seem to forget that youth are not only limited to the confines of our university streets, polytechnics and colleges of education.
As a matter of fact that my readers can attest to, legit youth of this Nation are also found in unfit places indulging in abominable activities like smoking Indian hemp in street corners, Idle hands found in car parks with stick of cigarettes stick to their mouth. The youths found in this despicable places indulging in abominable activities are eventually employed by politicians as machineries to steal ballot boxes during elections.
Another set of youths that we have are the apathetic youths. This set have shown no interest whatsoever in politics. They have cast their political consciousness into oblivion. They have deliberately shut themselves out of the political arena of the country, salvaging their interest in other activities such as entertainment, sports and other menial activities. This is rather unfortunate because these youths constitute the majority of the country's youth force.
It therefore becomes a pivotal issue that youths create in themselves what I will call a "political recuperation".
Nigerian youths need to restore their ill consciousness of political activities going on around them, youths should be drowning but yet starving for political awareness of the society for that is the beginning of true leadership
Also as youths, our worldview needs to change. I mean the lens through which we see our society needs to be changed. We need to begin to open our eyes to see a world where things can get better and brighter.
we have to close our eyes to religious dogmatism, an instrument that power hungry politicians have borrowed from money hungry so called religious leaders to keep us in check, to make us just as obsequious as their dogs. It is high time we began questioning the true reason for our existence. Are we born subjects of objects, A mere victim or a maker of circumstances. We need to open our eyes to envision a world where every of our heart yearnings aspirations are consciously translated into utility. Youths need to close their eyes to corruption, indecency, immorality, internet fraud, incompetency and unproductiveness and open their eyes to see a world where orderliness, honesty and productiveness is a conscious achievable achievements that must begin with them.
For about two decades now, Nigeria has played a her democracy on the wrong side of the board. She has sold competency for power, she has supplanted sage for seduction, she has traded off innovative skills as a ticket to winning political offices for god fatherism and has given up LEADERS FOR POLITICIANS. These politicians have taken rounds upon the dignity of our land and we have fallen victim of their sugarcoated mouth which is but a gateway to hell. But all hope is not lost. The time is now for us to restore our dignity, for us to make an edifice of hope from the broken pieces of out lives. #Wearenottooyoungtorule its just about time....THEY'VE COVERED THE CLOUDS LONG ENOUGH; WANT TO SEE THE DAYLIGHT....
Adesina Tunmise Adeolu is a Law student of Obafemi Awolowo University. He can be best reached on adesinatheo@gmail.com
0 comments: