Nigerians, particularly the youth, are wailing that a 70 year old Tinubu has been elected as President and that they desire a youthful President like Peter Obi. But the queation is, Na Who Cause Am?
Election is such that, if you decide to abstain from voting for whatever reason best known to you, others would vote and choose a leader for you. That is the price you pay for waiving your civic right of not voting in an election. You dont abstain from voting and when a leader is elected, you sit and complain.
If indeed the youth of Nigeria wanted a youthful Peter Obi to win, the voter population of those between the ages of 18-45 years alone could have made Peter Obi President of Federal Republic of Nigeria. According to INEC, 37,060,399 registered voters in Nigeria were between the ages of 18 – 35 years while 33, 413, 591 were between the ages of 36 – 45 years. Put together, a colossal 70,473,990 registered voters out of the 93,469,008 total registered voters were between the ages of 18 – 45years.
This means Nigeria has a youthful voter population. Why would a youthful voter population produce a 70 year old President? Interestingly, we are told that only 24,024,940 voted in the just ended election. In political campaigns, it is not enough to use social media or whatever campaign tool to project your preferred candidate. The most important thing to do is the “GET OUT THE VOTE” strategy on election day. This was where all the middle class, celebrities and backers of Peter Obi failed badly.
Voters may have varying reasons for not interested in voting but it was incumbent on those crusading for a New Nigeria to get them out to vote. Lets get this straight; if you dont vote, others will vote and whoever they elect, whether good or bad, will become your leader. And that is the case of Nigeria!
If you are a young man or woman in Ghana and of voting age, what is happening in Nigeria should serve as useful lesson to you. The right to vote is a constitutional one and must be exercised anytime the need arises. Your vote in 2024 will determine whether you want to remain in the sordid situation you find yourself or you want to get out of it. If you choose not to vote, you are only telling others to do that on your behalf. You have no business to complain if the few patriotic Ghanains who turn up to vote decide to elect bad leaders.
Even if you have two evils contesting in 2024, you still have a choice to choose the lesser evil. Abstaining from voting in 2024 should not be an option in 2024. It is erroneous to say you are going to find job for someone’s mother or father when you vote so you will prefer not to do that. Elections have consequences so when you put that at the back of your mind and you decide not to vote, you will equally feel the heat.
Amorse Blessing Amos
Regional Youth Organizer
Greater Accra – NDC