A basic question that should be put to all Nigerians is why should an individual run for political office? The answer which should be a simple one is that they run for office to serve the Nigerian people but the reality of the situation is that most of the people who run for political office and end up getting such offices run for selfish reasons such as gaining power, acquiring wealth and oppressing the people they swore an oath to serve.
This abuse of office by our leaders is what has led to Nigerian youths clamouring for the opportunity to govern and to have a voice in the state of affairs of the nation seeing as the present class of political office holders have not done anything to create a stable economic society. They also have failed to create a just and fair society to all from all parts of the country.
Nigeria gained her independence in 1960, became a republic in 1963 and has since then witnessed three republics and currently on her fourth republic due to several coup d’etat. The fourth republic has witnessed over 16 years of democracy yet Nigeria has barely grown from the state it was left by our colonial masters yet the same set of people governing the country still want to be in power with no concrete plan to move Nigeria forward.
In recent times Nigerians are beginning to take a stand and are refusing to allow people they elected into office treat them like they are the ones doing the citizens a favour. Questions are being asked from every part of the society and this article is prompted by one of such questions which is asking why Nigerian youths are not in the running for political office?
The answer to this question can only be obtained from the laws creating such political office. There are age restrictions put in place for qualification to run for political office under Nigerian laws by virtue of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria and several House of Assembly laws put in place to govern local government administration in each state.
The 1999 constitution puts a 40-year-old age restriction in order to be qualified to run for the office of President and Vice President of Nigeria. It puts a 35-year-old restriction to run for the office of Governor, Deputy Governor and Senate and a 30-year-old restriction to run for office of House of Representatives and House of Assembly. The office of the Chairman of Area Council also requires a person to be 30 years of age.
There seems to be only one viable option for Nigerian youths which is to run for the office of Councilor of Area Council because the age restriction is that of 25 years old.
The irony of the situation is that we value how old an individual is over their capability and other essential qualifications needed to perform effectively when elected to such office. It is the same constitution which provides that before a person could run for the office of President he must be 40 years old and the constitution goes further saying this forty year old must has been educated up to at least school certificate level or its equivalent.
Section 318 of the constitution further explains what a school certificate or its equivalent to mean a secondary school certificate, a Grade II teacher’s certificate, a primary six school leaving certificate accompanied with experience and course training and any other qualifications acceptable by the Independent National Electoral Commission. This here shows we are clearly not concerned with putting the right people in office because where a person with little to no intelligence runs for office because he can and wins, we cannot expect him to govern the country properly because such a person can only function to the best of his ability and his best would not be enough to go about running the affairs of the state in a productive manner.
These laws, that is the Constitution needs to be relaxed to allow not just old men who have not properly utilized the resources this nation has had to offer but to provide a platform for qualified Nigerian youths who are willing to serve their nation and not themselves and provide the proper guidance to move the country forward.
The big question we should be asking ourselves is what is Nigeria’s Ideology? Is it to create the best of minds only for us to send these minds abroad to be utilized by foreign nations or for us to change our ways and utilize those minds in our own home. It is a sad fact that Nigeria is still being referred to as a developing nation. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again in the same manner and expecting a different outcome. We cannot continue the way we are and expect things to change by recycling of old people to run our government which has led nowhere and has left our nation behind others.
Nigerian youths are the future of this country and without taking care of the present there would not be a future for this generation or those to come.
. Ayodeji writes from ayodeji_amoo@yahoo.com. Website: www.a3reepartners.com.