Nigeria’s Democracy And The Younger Generation – By Hon Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin

Two interesting things in our democratic journey as a country are one, that persons born in the year 1999 have not experienced living under a political regime in which the military as an organization held power and ruled us against our wish. So these young people do not know what it is to be ruled by force of arms.

Second, Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people and according to World Fact Book, most of the country’s population is young, with 42.54% between the ages of 0–14. If you add the age bracket to the 15 – 20 year olds, it may not be far from the truth to say that about 50% of Nigerians have not experienced living under military regime.

The rest of us who had experienced living under the jack boots of the military who presided over our affairs without our say, know that our opinions did not matter at all in the way we were treated. Today, the story is different.

Those born in 1999 and those born two years after, have voted in 2019
because they were 18, 19 and 20 years and I think they were the majority
voters. The older generation hardly vote in Nigeria.

For the
sacrifices the older generation endured yesterday for the young people
to have a today, the younger owe the older generation an obligation to
salute the courage of the elders who endured sacrifices to achieve
civilian rule.

Some of these elders have not been as lucky to
enjoy what these young lads are taking for granted today. Late MKO
Abiola is one such person. For what the military led by Gen. Babangida
did to him, we are celebrating democracy day today. I am happy that my
signature was recorded as one of those who voted on the floor of the
House of Representatives to immortalise late MKO Abiola based on whose
sacrifices June 12 became Democracy Day and a National Holiday.

Also
it is for the young that the Nigerian lawmakers passed the “Not Too
Young To Run” bill into law in July, 2017. I am pleased that I voted for
the law on the floor of the House. It by the instrumentality of this
law that Nigeria reduced the Presidential and Senatorial age limit from
40 to 35 and, for Governorship positions, from 35 to 30. The age for one
to be in the House of Representatives and the state House of Assembly,

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it is now 25 years of age.

By 2019, we had reached a milestone in
the journey towards perfecting our democracy. By 2023, those born in
1999 would be nearer to the office of House of Assembly or House of
Representatives.

Already younger Speakers of state Houses of
Assembly have emerged in at least two of the thirty six states of the
federation. This is a welcome development.

Reducing age limit
for holding political office should however not to be taken for granted.
Though one would like to see young energetic boys and girls occupying
leadership positions, they need to have education with character. Young
people with knowledge or with knowledge without character will certainly
be people that lack capacity to formulate and implement policies that
may reflect even their generation’s aspirations.

~ Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin’s Facebook Wall

12 June, 2021