One after the other they gathered at the Challenge Roundabout, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital – students, workers, artisans, all aged 18-35. Their mission? To ask that youths be given the chance to decide their future come 2019.
So unsure of the turnout were the convener, Adeola Adedoyin Oko, and the small team of the #YouthsDecide2019 rally that they had printed just 30 branded t-shirts on which were printed their goals. They had pulled the enormous crowd in the days leading up to the rally using various social media networks but could not be so sure they would be able to muster similar physical support. At 10 am, however, the gathering had grown from 30 to over 200 youths.
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“Youths decide 2019!” they chanted in a chorus, full of vigour, as they marched through Ibadan streets and markets displaying their voter card.
The rally, which held recently, was to pioneer a “bloodless revolution” ahead of the 2019 general elections, Oko, convener of the #YouthDecide2019, told BD SUNDAY in an interaction, adding that the time has come for the youths to produce officeholders to prevent further neglect in governance.
Oko lamented how the youths over the years had been left out in both elected and appointed positions, stressing, “Voter card is the weapon and this is what will bring the change we have been dreaming of.”
While the reduction in the age limit for elective positions is a big step, Oko noted that it does not guarantee a Nigerian youth opportunity to seek political positions.
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“The godfathers of Nigerian politics always penetrate the parties to decide who gets what. A youth candidate’s chances of winning in the primaries remain very slim, talk more of winning an election,” he said.
“We can’t allow this sidelining to continue, and we have to take our destiny in our own hands. How can the old people be recycling themselves in government as if the youths are not growing or relevant? This is unacceptable,” he added.
The above, Oko said, was why he and his team were championing “this bloodless revolution”.
“The economy is not working and youths are not getting employment. With this rally planned for all states in Nigeria, the revolution has begun and time has come for us to forget the old ways of doing things. Youths will take over the government by 2019,” he said.
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He urged Nigerian youths to be focused, dogged and resolute in their quests to reclaim what belongs to them in the country.
“Time has come for youths to reject bad governance by first rejecting money during elections and rather vote according to the dictates of their conscience during polls,” he said.
He said the rally has no religious, tribal or political affiliation and it was not funded by any politician or group.
“The funds used came from our own purse. All we seek is a sincere opportunity for visionary youths from the West, East, South and North to lead come 2019, which will signify a paradigm shift as the youths have previously not involved themselves much in electoral processes,” he said.
David Ibemere
