Ibadan, Aug. 27, 2018 (NAN)
Ahead of the 2019 general elections, Nigerians say that the existing political structures cannot guarantee the emergence of a new political leadership in the country.
The people, who expressed the view in a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), added that the new political parties would not make serious impact on the polity or assure young persons of opportunity to lead.
Prof. Adeolu Durotoye, a professor of Political Science, said the registration of new political parties might not guarantee emergence of youths as leaders under the current political dispensation.
He said there were no clear prospects of getting a new political leadership from the current political actors.
Durotoye, however, said that some of the current policy initiatives might provide a form of learning process and preparation stage for the youth.
The don said it was still possible that the younger generations, if encouraged to join politics and given level playing grounds, could change the system.
On the Not To Young Run Act, Durotoye said the law had broken the barriers preventing youths from vying for elective positions.
” The law has given hope and assurance to the youths that they can become political leaders if they have what it takes with the support of the people.
” Since the constitution does not allow for independent candidacy, the emerging political parties would serve as a ground and platform for young people to test their popularity and acceptance.
Another political scientist, Dr Olukunle Boboye, expressed pessimism about the emergence of a new political order through registration of new political parties, saying the established political structure would not allow that to happen.
Boboye, however, said the Not -Too-Young To-Run Act would give youths interested in politics the opportunity to vie for positions of leadership.
” The purpose may not be achieved now.
”Some of our current political leaders hardly believe in the ability of youths, believing only they have monopoly of ideology to govern the country.
”But there is hope that youths who participate actively in politics will occupy leadership positions gradually if they remain committed,’’ he said.
He urged the electoral bodies – Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) – to strive in meeting the expectations of the electorate by allowing their votes to count in elections.
For Dr Wasiu Olatubosun, the Secretary of Unity Forum, a pressure group of All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, the current political structure would not ensure the emergence of a new leadership that could serve the interests of Nigerians.
He said the registration of new political parties would not guarantee the emergence of youths as leaders, stressing that mere enactment of laws was not enough.
Olatubosun stated that human and financial challenges were major factors hindering the access of youths to power.
“No newly registered political party can make an impact in the struggle to get good leaders.
“ Only strong financial support and waivers can aid such struggle in Nigeria’s political system,” he said.
He also stated that electoral institutions were not safe nets for youths and young parties, adding that young persons must muster enough resources to pursue their goals.
Similarly, Mr Akinyemi Akinlabi, a former Chairman of Ibadan Central Local Government, believes the political structure would not serve the interest of Nigerians “ because it is a recycling of the existing and old horses.’’
He state that the Not Too Young Act would not facilitate emergence of new political leadership because “ the youths are too weak in ideas and funds needed to facilitate political change.’’
Akinlabi also described the registration of new political parties as absolutely“ unnecessary as it is just a proliferation of the political space.’’
“The major challenges blocking the youths from getting to power in Nigeria includes the greedy adults in the political class, the corrupt social system and monetisation of the electoral system,” he added.
He said that the newly registered political parties would not change the political order “ because they were formed and populated by the same old brigade.’’
Akinlabi, however, believes that new political parties could make an impact by enforcing internal discipline and deemphasising the use of money in the electoral processes.
“The structures and laws are favourable to the youths but the laws are often abused and manipulated by party leaders
“INEC is a safe institution for youth participation in politics but the SIECs are not. The SIECs are not serving the interest of anybody except the state governors. All SIECs should be scrapped,’’ he said.
A gubernatorial aspirant of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) in Ogun, Mr Ademola Ogunbanjo, also raised doubt on the possibility of the emergence of a new political leadership in Nigeria.
Adebanjo said Nigeria’s current political structure and environment would make such change difficult.
“As long as money continues to play major and domineering role in our politics, the present political leaders and money-bags will continue to occupy and control the leadership positions in our country.
” Moreover, the recent gale of defections mainly between the two major political leaders who are most likely to produce winners of the 2019 polls means that Nigeria will have recycled political leadership.
“We might have another ruling political party, but the leaders will be the usual people and the spirit, motive and style will be the same.
“Three important factors that an aspirant or candidate needs to possess in order to win an election in Nigeria are wisdom, network and money and these things are acquired overtime,” he said.
A lecturer at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Dr Goke Rauf, also noted that the prevailing money politics and the sit-tight-in- power tendency of the old leaders were major hindrances for the youths in accessing power.
Rauf explained that while the recent Not -too-Young to Rule Law could enhance increased participation of youths in politics , it could not guarantee them access to power .
He said that the law had simply created a space for them, adding that “they still need to work hard to occupy the space.’’
” The youths must be united to take advantage of their population and the platform of the social media for campaign.
“They must rally round young candidates and stop demanding money from them,” he said.
The lecturer urged the newly registered political parties to concentrate on the grassroots and seek to make impact in such areas.
“The new political parties need to de-emphasise attention to the centre and start to make impact at the ward, local government and state levels.
” If they succeed and are consistent in effecting changes at these levels, gradually, they will be well known and begin to grow and spread.
“Overtime, Nigeria will witness a change in political leadership,” he said.
But Dr Segun Osinkolu, an Ekiti-based politician, believes the prospect for the emergence of a new leadership in 2019 is slim.
He, however, described as a welcome development the registration of more political parties in the country.
Osinkolu, a Senatorial aspirant, said the task of choosing future leaders for the country resided in the electorate.
Rotimi Boboye, the Chairman Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in Ondo State, also argued that registration of new political parties would not guarantee emergence of youths as leaders in Nigeria.
Boboye also said that the proliferation of political parties would not make any meaningful impact in the present political order because they were not formed or founded on any known political ideology.
According to him, the present structure for the conduct of elections in Nigeria is not only discriminatory but is unfavourable for young persons in terms of parties and electoral bodies.
He described the Not Too Young To Run Act as a positive development that would enable the youths to participate in the political space.
He, however, said that the law on its own could not guarantee that youths would be elected as envisaged by the proponents of the law.
According to him, this is anchored on the fact that elections in Nigeria have been highly monetised.
“It is also interesting to note that even the youth don’t trust or have confidence that emergence of their group in leadership positions will be beneficial or advantageous to them.
“Therefore, they still seem to prefer that the political status quo should remain.
“I see INEC as friends of all and foe to none except in few exceptional cases.
“ This cannot, however, be said of SIECs that always take instructions from their masters that appointed them as in ‘he who pays the piper dictates the tune’,” he said.
For Mr Angel Folorunso, the Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance in Oyo State, the nation’s constitution needed to be restructured to accommodate favourable political and economic environment to meet the challenges of 21st century politics.
”The Not-Too-Young-To-Run law is a right development that will encourage participation of the youth in politics.
“ There is still need for the youths to go through political party system and education, cultivate the ideological garden, as well as be financially stable.
”Registration of new political parties cannot guarantee emergence of youths as leaders for now because the set of politicians that control the nation’s politics since 1999 are still the brains behind the registration of the new political parties.
”Though one of the critical functions of a political party is to recruit leaders to win power and run the affairs of the nation for the benefit of the people but these old politicians are not ready to leave the stage for youths to replace them, ” Folorunso said.
He pointed out that the youth would face personality crisis, poor political/ideological education as well as economic and financial obstacles on their path to political power.
Folorunso, who is also the state secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, however, said the new parties would serve as a breeding ground for future leaders.
He suggested coalition of the new parties to ensure ideological compatibility to muster electoral value and support of the people ”to avoid damning party mortality.”
Folorunso argued that power politics was a process to facilitate the participation of eligible Nigerians from 18 years and above, ”but electoral politics will need dedicated youths ready to go through the party organs to acquire experience.’’
He stated that INEC and SIEC must be well funded and be insulated from partisan politics to conduct free, fair, credible and acceptable elections in 2019 and beyond.
