Nigeria System has no structure to promote youths inclusion in politics…the youths should be ready to fight their way into it. Hon Fidel Odiase the Esan Agenda Crusader Oknewsonline POLITICS Today.

The political Structure in Nigeria: Nigeria  System has no structure to promote youths inclusion in politics…the youths should be ready to fight their way into it.

Hon Fidel Odiase 

the Esan Agenda Crusader

Oknewsonline POLITICS Today.

According to the Esan Agenda Crusader, Nigeria has not set up a good structure that will promote the clamoured transition of governance to the hands of youths despite the passage of the Not-too-Young-to-run bill in Nigeria.

The young and vibrant politician, however maintained that the Nigerian youths should be ready to make sacrifices and demonstrate enough desperation to surmount these bottlenecks in order to shut themselves into the cockpits of political powers in the country and drive the desired national developments.

“But because it takes a longer phase now for an average youth to be stable (in Nigerian politics); they rarely have what it takes to step into politics (in Nigeria). And these are the fights they need to make themselves. There is no structure that should promote that transition (of governance to the hands of youths) naturally. People have to want politics and people need to be desperate enough to pay sacrifices to be in politics. So, it makes it a very big task,” he observed.

He further noted that unlike Nigeria, strong structures are in place in many countries that encourage and nurture youths into taking over the mantles of political leadership.

He continued: “In some countries, they have progressive structures where you can, you know, from this place, they nurture your interest in politics; they encourage political discussions among young people; they have youth parliament, but they have a lot of programmes that solidify youth participation in politics”.

“We (Nigeria) do not have that kind of structure and you know, people come out worrying a lot about what they will eat; how they will get jobs. People who are jobless do not do politics, of course except if they have to be errand boys and (political) thugs. This is why you see that a vast majority of young people who participate in politics do not play significantly active roles except to perpetuate further the intents of the people that are already in power- the older generation”.

The building construction expert further hinted that although the youths do not out rightly connote good leadership, but argues that the crop of old leaders the country currently has are not advanced enough to successfully pilot the affairs of the country.

Hon Fidel Odiase hinted, “I am not one who promotes the fact that youth is a definition of good leadership, but I do think that the crop of old leaders we have are not advanced enough to lead us”, adding that because of that, “to some points, we have been between progress and setbacks”.

Commenting on the recent protests by some young Nigerians against rising insecurity and poor governance in the country, the building construction guru maintained that while he does not condemn the protests entirely as it is ideal in modern democracies, he believes that it is not effective and enough for the entrenchment of good governance and championing the desired change in a sane society.

Odiase opined that the country needs a more wide spread awareness and interest development of young people in politics.

He insisted that the silence of the youths in Nigerian politics opened way for the old generation politicians to plunder the country into its current deplorable condition regretting that the youths do not have interest in politics especially when it does not benefit their immediate job or survival needs.

He further expressed discomfort that out of over hundred million young Nigerians, only about one thousand young people are worried about the state of governance.

While recalling how the protests that greeted the murder of the African-American, Gorge Floyd, were held across the United States of America with millions of people in participation, Odiase argued that the lack of interest in politics and poor mindset of some Nigerians led many to verbally attack and criticise the RevolutionNow protesters.

“Well, I think it is good. As a protest, it is fine. But, you know, something being ideal and something effective, are two different arguments. And looking at our democratic structure, it is ideal to permit protest. But looking at our structure, is protest sufficient enough? I don’t think so. At that scale, No! It is good they are doing a lot of good things of course getting people to protest and getting involved into issues that are very important to us. But is that fundamentally where we have had problems? No! I mean we have had protests, but the fact that we cannot sustain them and we don’t get results out of protests shows that there is a fundamental problem with the structure that limits what we can get out of protests.

“I encourage people to keep protesting if that’s how they can do their stuff. And the press will do their writing and everybody will play their own role in their spaces, you know, to make things work. But what you need to know is that we need a more wide spread awareness and interest in politics first. Young people are not interested in politics if it does not benefit their immediate job or survival needs. People are not interested in politics for passion. You know, for the sake of patriotism and all of that”.