Youths Explain Why They Aren't Involved In Politics

Yemi Osinbajo was at Olamide’s concert last December and Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola tried to dance shoki at a rally in Lagos recently. Politicians are really trying connect with young people this year.

But the thing is, young people don’t vote — at least not as much as older people. Most young people didn’t vote in any of the last three elections even though they had turned 18 before at least one of them. This happens not just in Nigeria but around the world as well.

Will the Youth Vote?

Naij.com correspondent, Adedayo Ademuwagun,  gives six reasons why most young Nigerians don’t vote.

1. What’s at stake for them?

Most youths who’re 18-25 don’t have much responsibility yet. They don’t have a spouse or kids, and some of them in this age group are still in school and are probably not working yet. So they’re not as concerned about things like healthcare, the economy and food prices. They don’t feel most government policies really affect them at all.

2. Voting is a chore to them.

Most young people are put off by the process they have to go through to cast their ballot. They see the whole thing as a chore, from registering for the voter card to queuing in the sun to cast the ballot. They find the procedure very inconvenient. It’s like when older people ask why young people don’t read books. Young people these days want things done with less hassle and are more inclined to look for the easy way. It’s more convenient to google and read what you want online instead of poring through a physical book.

Chidinma says, “Maybe if voting was more like online shopping or voting in a reality show where you just have to make some clicks on your phone and you’re done, there’ll be more young people voting. What I’m saying is, clear the hassle, simplify the process and then we can talk.”

3. They weren’t raised to take voting seriously.

How many young people today really learned about voting and why they should take it seriously?

Ovie says, “Nobody encouraged us to engage with the political process when I was growing up. The schools didn’t do that. My parents didn’t do that either. In fact my father would warn me to be careful about taking part in protests and political events on campus.  Like most young people I wasn’t brought up under a strong political culture. I had no idea why the stuff mattered. So now it’s like being told to go to a party where you don’t know what’s happening or who’s celebrating something. Of course you won’t take it seriously.”

4. They’re poorly informed about politics.

Most young people today don’t read the news and follow the major happenings in the country. A lot of youths  don’t know what’s going on. They don’t listen to commentaries and they’re not up to date with politics. They feel clueless about the elections and the players.

Maruf says, “I’m not interested in politics generally. I barely even know about the people contesting in these elections, so I can’t just go line up somewhere and vote for someone I don’t even know. Politics is just not one of my interests. So I don’t follow it.”

5. They don’t believe in the system.

Youths are generally more cynical about voting than their elders. They feel the system is broken and that their voting won’t fix anything. They’re frustrated about the problems they see in the country and they believe their vote won’t count.

“At the end of the day when you vote, nothing changes,” Chidinma says. “Things stay the way they were before. So why should I bother myself? They probably already know who will win the election. You know how it works in this country.”

6. They don’t feel strongly about any of the candidates.

You’re less likely to vote when your heart is not in it for anyone on the ballot paper.

“I don’t vote because I’m not in agreement with what the parties and their candidates have to offer,” says Kemi. “I have to feel strongly about a candidate before I can put in the time to go and vote for them. But personally most of the candidates are just not worth the time to me. I prefer to sleep or watch a movie. I’d like to vote for someone who’ll work for the people and serve our interests. But people who run for office almost always don’t seem to me to fit that description.”

Osinbajo and Fashola are not the only ones trying to involve Nigerian youths in politics: youth celebrities  also try to create ways to involve themselves in politics. It will be recalled that the likes of Yemi Alade, Flavour, Banky W, Dammy Krane and rappers M.I. and Ice Prince created a music video to support the APC campaign in Lagos.