President Buhari signing the Not Too Young To Run Bill
The
passing of the ‘NOT TOO YOUNG TO RUN BILL’ has initiated a war of words.
The
members of PDP have insisted that the globally applauded campaign was their
invention.
However,
the bill was the brainchild of Tony Nwulu in the House of Representatives and
Abdulaziz Nyako in the Senatorial position.
Although
Mr. Nwulu is a member of the PDP, Mr. Nyako is officially an APC senator from
Adamawa.
The
notion of the ‘not too young to run bill’ is to create an enabling environment
for youths participation in elections and governance. The vision is that
‘whoever can vote can be voted for’, and the concept of age discrimination
should be kicked against. It can be deduced that the restriction on political
participation is a caricature to the concept of democracy.
This is not just a
Nigerian problem, but one that has puzzled 83% of the countries in the world.
This
is the much-awaited opportunity for Nigerian youth to put a voice to their
claims about the failures of the older generation on the subject of
governance.
The
new law reduces the eligible age for those seeking to be members of the state
Houses of Assembly and House of Representatives from 30 to 25 years, and those
aspiring to be President from 40 to 35 years.
The
vote of confidence by president Buhari is highly commendable and should be
emulated, in his exact words, he says “I am confident each one of you will
transform Nigeria in your own way – whether through the media, agricultural
enterprise, as economists, engineers, or as lawmakers in your states or at the
federal level, or as state governors – and even someday, as President. Why not?
He also retrieved his initial statements made at the Commonwealth forum, where
he described Nigerian youths as needing almost everything despite Nigeria’s
young democracy.
Despite being accused on several fronts, the
signing of the bill places Nigerian youths on a pedestal. President Buhari
acknowledged the feat achieved by Nigerian youths in the area of Agriculture,
Business, Media, Art and other relevant platforms.
Even
as Nigerian youth begin to celebrate, the issue that would plague us from here
is “are we not too young to run ?”. This
stems from the fact that an average Nigerian 35-year-old might not be mentally
and financially ready to occupy such a delicate position.
However,
this is a step in the right direction for Nigeria’s 58-year-old democracy. The
onus is however on us, to fit into these big shoes. To do this, we must do the
needful by getting by PVC.
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