Most political office holders in Africa’s most populous nation see politics not as an opportunity to serve but a gateway to power and influence. An opportunity to get rich and amass as much wealth as possible.
They do not want accountability and when the people of the nation, in the most unlikely situation, attempt to demand it, the political class fight back with everything they have including using the very institutions of state like the judiciary, central bank, police, military and even hooligans.
So on the morning of Tuesday, October 20, 2020, just before the lights at Lekki toll gate were put out and agents of the Nigerian government resorted to violent suppression of peaceful protesters, two Nigerian media platforms Netng and Neusroom, created and distributed a series of polls and quizzes on their digital channels — websites, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages — to feel the pulse of the nation and predict through data, what direction and shape the political leadership of the country could take.
The two platforms, with a combined following of about a million social media followers, and five million website users deployed two categories of quizzes and polls totalling 36 different posts. The first category focused on older candidates, aged 45 years and above, while the other presented younger candidates, many of them millennials and key promoters of the END SARS protest.
For two weeks, ending November 1, 2020, Netng and Neusroom explored the leadership choices of young Nigerians, including the office of the President.
The polls reached 421,122 people across the different platforms, garnered about 7,000 responses, shared over 3000 times, and accumulated more than 17,000 total engagement.
Here’s what we learnt about the views of young Nigerians on the nation’s political leadership.
The future is female.
Unlike the generations before them, young Nigerians are very open to seeing women hold leadership positions. In many of the polls and quizzes, female candidates came tops.
Young has grown.
Respondents want youth in power, especially those at the forefront of citizen and political advocacy.
A bridge.
A large percentage of the respondents agree on having respectable personalities who can serve as a bridge between the older generation — whom many young people say have failed them — and the younger crop of Nigerians, but who will best fill this role? Pastor Sam Adeyemi and Peter Obi emerged top choices.
Enough is Enough.
A large majority of respondents strongly opposed the idea of any of the present crop of politicians and officeholders retaining power.
The respondents also criticized the media platforms for suggesting people over 45 years as potential replacements for the current president.
You are not one of us.
Respondents condemned the older generation candidates presented in the quizzes, especially those in the male category. They stated that the candidates were part of the corrupt system.
ENDSARS.
The renewed awareness and agitation for good and youth-led governance spurred by the #EndSARS protest appeared to have played a strong role in the choice of the leaders selected. It is expected that the sentiment will continue to grow in this direction.
These ones are not that bad.
While a majority of young Nigerians frowned at the prospect of anyone older than 45 years old holding any public office, they were more favourably disposed to Peter Obi, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and Oby Ezekwesili.
More…
- Aisha Yesufu is the most influential Nigerian right now according to our poll. She won 19% of the total votes across all platforms.
- If young Nigerians were to elect Nigeria’s next president now, entertainer Falz could be Aso Rock’s new resident. He won 70% of the total votes. Simplistic, yes. But that is the mood of the respondents.
- Toyosi Akerele is the most preferred choice for a female president. She garnered 27.4% of the total votes.
- Nigeria is better served with Pastor Sam Adeyemi acting as the bridge between young Nigerians and their older compatriots. He polled 54% of the votes. The Pastor is not a politician and is unlikely to run for office.
In conclusion, for a large majority of young Nigerians, the present crop of political leaders have done anything but lead. Hence, there is no better time for young people to assume the position of leadership across the board and reinstate the social contract that ought to exist between the government and the governed.