Right from every form of entertainment to religious activities, working their ass off to make a living, the average Nigerian young person seems to be interested in everything going on except to be involved in politic through the various ways they can get involved. Why is this?
Nigeria is one of the most populated countries in the world, it is the most populated country in Africa, a huge part of that population is made up of young people, in so many ways, this is a great thing, but politically in Nigeria, this doesn’t particularly seem to carry any advantage.
The most significant potentials of the country are rooted in its youthfulness, yet, it seems that the youthfulness of the Nigeria population has not been useful to the nation, especially in the political areas of the country.
Apart of being productive by making up most of the workforce of the country, one of the significant ways which the young population of the country can influence the country is through politic, yet, this is the area that the young people are mostly uninterested in.
Have you ever wondered or you’re currently wondering why the Nigerian youth are not interested in politics? Today if you go to the newspaper stands, the old folks are the ones reading the political columns and arguing on the topics. In contrast, the younger folks focus on something else like football and other form of entertainment.
Let’s take a look at some of the few factors that have made it a thing for the young population of the country to be this much uninterested in politics.
THE HOME.
This is the first place to start examining the problem. The home is one of the major tenets of our society and whether we like it or not, most of what transpired in our society start on the home front.
How have the parents influenced their children about politics while going up? In a typical Nigerian home, politicians are devils and politic is the devil’s game, hence they do not want their children to be involved in it.
An average Nigerian grew up looking at politicians as people to detest and politics as a world meant for the unholiest set of people in our society. This mentality is one of the reasons why so many of them see politics as something not to involve themselves with.
EDUCATION.
The average teacher takes up the home rhetoric and continues beating the drum of the evil forest of politics and how only the devil reincarnates make this forest their field of play.
Everything bad in the school system from the underfunded classrooms to the underpaid teachers are blamed on the politics, they further demonise politics as the scourge of the society, hence the student does not want to involve themselves in politics.
THE REGIONAL DIVISION.
The regional division of a country like Nigeria makes it hard for the young people in it to unify and put their voices in one place. This is one of the problems that hinder the political involvement of young people on a massive and national scale in the country. It is hard to be interested in an area when you know that objectivity is first subjected to regional bias and ethnic loyalty.
THE PERCEIVED ELITES SYSTEM.
Historically, the country has been ruled by almost the same family since inception. This system makes the young people in the country that doesn’t belong to the ruling class or in any way related to the class, that breaking into politics and making an impact there is close to being impossible.
The truth is, at the moment, the recent Big Brother Naija show has shown the trajectory that the Nigerian youth are interested in almost everything and will invest in those things except politics.
If the tides of the country must change for the better, the things listed above must be seriously addressed, and a long-lasting solution must be provided.
The young people of Nigeria must understand that involvement in politic is not only by playing the game of politics or running for office, getting your voter’s card and voting during elections is one of the significant ways, demanding accountability from the people representing you in any legal way you can, for example by peaceful protest is another way to be involved in politics.
If we the young people of Nigeria want the country to change for the better, we must get involved in politics in any way that we can.
I want to hear from you, why are you not actively involved in politics? Let me know in the comment section.