Why youths involvement in politics is a panacea to Nigeria’s problems

Photo Credit: Vanguard Newspaper

By Enoch Kaanti

Are our youths failing the system or the system failing our youths? I think this question cannot be answered in a rush. However, in my observation and reflections, l posit firmly that the very youth who are being treated the worst are the young people who are going to lead us out of this nightmare.

The major problems we have in Nigeria today cannot be discussed in earnest without a speaking of poor technological advancement, youths’ unemployment, which metamorphoses to restiveness, robbery among others. A scholar once rightly argued that, “If you had a problem in the Black community, and you brought in a group of White people to discuss how to solve it, almost nobody would take that panel seriously. In fact, there’d probably be a public outcry.”

In Nigeria, every day, at Local Government levels all the way to Aso Rock in Abuja, the nation’s seat of power, the old ones, majority of whose judgment wits are too superannuated, sit around and decide what problems youth have and what youth need, without ever involving them.

If youths will be encouraged and listened to, and solutions are well thought out, Nigeria is set up for success. In the time past, it was evident that having youth on boards and commissions is a rewarding experience. In certain areas where youths smarted into positions of responsibilities it was never a thing of disappointment. Our elders say that if a child is riding a stick then suffice it to day that the child wants to ride on a horse. If we think that politics is too serious a business to be left in the hands of the young people, we out to remember that, more often than not, what you start doing in childhood you are prone to do it better than he who learn in old age. Matt Mc Carte noted that the old members of the society benefit from the fresh perspective, optimism, and enthusiasm youth bring to the table.

If youths will be encouraged and listened to, and solutions are well thought out, Nigeria is set up for success.

In the same light, it was Sandra Meucci who stated that rather than standing or speaking for children, we need to stand with children speaking for themselves. We don’t need a political movement for children… [we need to] build environments and policies for our collective future.

In the same light, it was Sandra Meucci who stated that rather than standing or speaking for children, we need to stand with children speaking for themselves. We don’t need a political movement for children… [we need to] build environments and policies for our collective future.

Youths are everywhere; in social vices, you find youths, technology is youths, agriculture is youths, entrepreneurship is youths. Just mention. Dog eats bones but when you tie a bone at the dog’s neck the dog cannot eat the bone though it will have the appetite. The implication of this analogy is that when we embrace the youths and saddle them with political responsibilities it will go a long way ameliorating restiveness, crime, and bring about suitable policies and strategies for a better Nigeria. A trial may convince us.