#Not Too young to run: Not yet Uhuru (1)

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday in Abuja, signed into law the “Not Too Young to Run Bill.” Before now, youths promoting the bill had seized the airwaves, securing the attention of every living being within the Nigerian space. I recall Senate President Bukola Saraki becoming a convert and advocate, while a number of civil society actors equally joined the propagating team, addressing press conferences and leading rallies.

But it was a constitutional matter. So, whatever you do on the streets must be to secure the consciousness of National Assembly members and members of the State Houses of Assemblies.

At the end of the day, the lawmakers at the federal and state levels approved the bill, one of the 28 constitution amendment bills sent to the State Assemblies by the National lawmakers.

The president, in assenting the bill, asked the youths not to take immediate advantage of the law and wait till after the 2019 elections, when he would have contested for a second term in office.

Some of the key highlights of the Act include the reduction in the age limit to seek election into the House of Assembly and House of Representatives from 30 to 25 years and the reduction of the age limit to seek election as President from 40 to 35 years. However, the age limit for the Senate and Governors remain at 35 years.

President Buhari, basking in the euphoria of a feat his administration rarely bestows on the youth, chose to eulogise his guests and caution that at the same time.

Hear him: “You, the young people of Nigeria, are now set to leave your mark on the political space, just as you have done over the decades in entrepreneurship, sports, art, media, entertainment, technology, and several other fields. You are undoubtedly Nigeria’s most important resource – not oil, not agriculture, not solid minerals – but you and all of us. Your energy, intelligence, and talent are what will drive and develop Nigeria, long after we are all gone…

“Thus, it may be tempting for you to think of this as the end of the journey. However, it is only the beginning; there is still a lot of work ahead, towards ensuring that young people take full advantage of the opportunities provided not only by this constitutional amendment but also through Nigeria’s boundless prospects.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party immediately reacted to the development from different perspectives. While Saraki described the Act as the beginning of youth inclusion in politics, Ekweremadu said that the law would open the doors for youth participation in politics. The PDP, however, sought to take credit for the initiative since its members introduced the bill.

Notwithstanding the celebration that has greeted the assent to the bill, you want to really as the question, are the youth ready to run?

Anyone who takes a look at the political space as constituted would easily come to the conclusion that the youth, going by the Nigerian definition, are too young to run!

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The Act establishing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) creates the legalistic framework for the definition of the Nigerian Youth. According to that Act, anyone above the age of 30 is deemed exempted from the Youth Service, an indication that such is no longer a Youth.

But the word youth is the most abused in the Nigerian political lexicon. The average age of the Youth Leader of most political parties is 50. This is clearly an indication that the youth, the real target of the Act, will take time to come of age.

But there are too many factors that could make nonsense of the new Act. The two broad issues remain the cash and carry politics we play here and then the crisis of political party management. Further broken down, you have to talk about internal party democracy and the delegates system.

Do the Youth understand the way candidates emerge at party primaries? Do they know how members of party executives emerge? And do they know what it means to camp delegates?

Let me tell you a story. A former governor was hell-bent on denying a senatorial candidate his party’s ticket. A day to the appointed day for the primaries, the governor ordered all delegates to the primaries to a location and camped them. From there, messages were sent to the aspirant that he must cough out N500, 000 to secure the backing of the delegates.

Luckily, the aspirant was in touch with officials from his party headquarters, he simply directed them to another venue where he organised another set of party members as delegates and he was simply voted for. The officials who conducted the primaries were already on their way to the airport before the governor got wind of what had happened but it was too late to change the result of that primary.

The lesson here is two-fold; money plays a big role in primaries and elections and secondly, members of our political parties as presently constituted have no means of identification. Anyone can stand in for whoever. Only the experienced know how the game is played.

If in doubt, ask members of the APC in Oyo and Imo. Some members of the party had claimed that loyalists of the two governors failed to participate in the ward and local government congresses, so they could not possibly have state executive council members and delegates to the convention. It would surprise you, however, that the governors’ camps have since produced the party structures and delegates currently awaiting the National convention of the party. That’s the abracadabra that will shock the not too young to run advocates.