THE ROLE OF THE YOUTH IN ENSURING VIOLENCE-FREE
ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA, BEING THE TEXT OF A PAPER PRESENTED BY HON. (BARR.)
ONOFIOK LUKE, MEMBER, AKWA IBOM STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ON THE OCCASION OF THE
OFFICIAL FLAGGING-OFF CEREMONY OF “YOUTH CAMPAIGN AGAINST ELECTION VIOLENCE”
(Y-CAEV) AT MERIT HOUSE ABUJA
The 2011 general elections in Nigeria were
widely acknowledged by credible international bodies as the best-managed
election in Nigeria since the country's return to democracy in 1999. But in
spite of attaining the status of one of our best-run elections, the United
States Peace Institute adjudged the polls of that year as the most violent
election in the history of the country, with more than 800 deaths recorded and
over 60, 000 people displaced in the violence which erupted following the
elections.
In 2003, more than 100 people were reported
killed in escalated violent clashes during that year's general election. The
2007 elections were also not free from unrest as more than 300 Nigerians lost
their lives according to reports by the Human Rights Watch. In each case,
churches and mosques were burnt, children and women were maimed, and properties
worth fortunes destroyed.
What is profound in the sad commentary of
elections in Nigeria is that the Nigerian youths have been playing very key
roles in what becomes the fate of every election in the country. While the 2011
election was a relatively successful outing because some of the nation's youths
formed the mass of patriots that manned the process, the ensuring violence
which claimed several lives and properties was also not without the critical
inputs of young Nigerians. To put in a clearer perspective, Nigeria appears to
be replete with youths who believe in repositioning the nation but hold
different beliefs on what is the right approach to achieving the change.
Those who believe in putting Nigeria back on
track through a revolution see every opportunity for a change as that which
calls for violent resistance to what in their thinking is not a positive
change. Those who believe in the peaceful transformation of our socio-political
lot are quick to embrace non-violence means to achieving lasting change. What
is not clear is which of the two groups of youths is more actively engage in
our political process.
It is erroneous to think that electoral
violence is always an exclusive machination of the youth. Evidences abound that
the gory clashes during or after elections in the country have on several
occasions been engineered by people who are outside the youth age stratum. But
the truth remains that whether the youths are often used by politicians to
perpetuate violence as many argue, or they mastermind violence by themselves,
young Nigerians are the key to ensuring violence-free elections in our country.
This brings me to the very personal and more practical instance of what I am
talking about. It is the story of my engagement in politics as a youth. I not
only had the opportunity to actively participate in the 2007 general elections
in the country. I also stood elections in 2011 as a candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party contesting for a seat in the Akwa Ibom state House of
Assembly.
In 2007, I was one of the youths who mobilised
other youths for the Chief Godswill Akpabio governorship campaign. How did we
manage to achieve a violent-free election in spite of the odds that were
against us? We simply identified and aligned ourselves with a candidate who
himself was an anti-violence politician. We started by consulting youth leaders
and mobilising other youths across the local government areas of the state to rally
supports for our candidate. We moved from youth groups to youth groups selling
our candidate and his manifestoes to fellow youths. We believed we had a fine
product in the person of Chief Godswill Akpabio to sell. Above all, the unique
selling points which we identified in him as a person and in his manifestoes,
were what we used as the centrepiece of our campaign for him.
Tolerance was another central reason why we
succeeded in achieving a peaceful election in a poll that had far more number
of youths engaged in the process than the elders. It didn't matter to us what
the opposition candidates and their campaign teams were doing. What we
concentrated on was to be heard. All we wanted was for the people to receive
our message. We dwelt our message on our vision to deliver a far more superior
leadership to our people. We were so passionate about the message that we
carried so that we neither had the time nor reasons to confront security
personnel throughout the electioneering period. If you have a more convincing message,
there would be no need to take up arms. Violence is often resorted
to by people with a weak mental capacity to
score a point. In the end, we carried the day without a single incidence of
bloodshed. This is how the Dr. Godswill Akpabio administration came to be populated
by focused and peace-loving youths whose only drive was the overall growth and
progress of Akwa Ibom people.
Another instance where the energies of young
people were positively channelled towards the conduct of an election was when I
contested in 2011. The youths in my constituency mobilised themselves to be my
canvassers. They were convinced by the message that I had for the
people. They wanted to be part of the vision to deliver quality
representation to the people of
our constituency. So they willingly took it
upon themselves to serve as my mouthpieces especially in the areas I could not
personally reach before the elections. They campaigned in all the wards and
units where elections were going to hold. They reached a unanimous agreement
among themselves to ensure a violence free election in every part of the
constituency. So for
every polling unit, there were a number of
them who monitored voting. They worked with the various security personnel to
ensure nobody attempted to disrupt the process. Rather than ferment trouble,
these young people actually organised themselves into groups of 'local police'
to enthrone peace while voting lasted. In the end, no gun was shot. No one was
maimed. No religious place was burnt down. Those who won celebrated. Those who
lost knew they had lost on a fair ground. There was absolute peace. And today, the
people are living in peace; the dividend of democracy is felt. No one is
recounting any loss owing to that election. To me, this is an ideal paradigm
for Nigerian youths to adopt in order to square it up against electoral
violence.
Of course, I am not unaware of how a few of
our security men can be used to stir violence. This is where the social media
comes in. We saw this during the just concluded election in Anambra State where
activities during the elections were being twitted live by youths who took it
upon themselves to report from each polling unit. Pictures of malpractices were
also uploaded for the world to see. We hear a number of arrests made were made
possible by online reports, images and videos posted on YouTube. This is just
how the youths should police the system during an election such as the one in 2015.
More and more studies have shown that there is
a significant relationship between youth involvement in electoral violence and
the crisis of democratic consolidation in Nigeria. As one who has been both a
contestant in an election as well as a mobiliser of youths for a contestant in
an election, I can assure you that the youths of this country hold the key to a
violent-free election. All that we need to do is to harness our interests,
identify those who share in these interests, take up the responsibility of
mobilising other young people who share in those interest areas, tolerate those
who do not agree with us, and police our votes peacefully with the aid of
whatever mass media that is available to us. This way, we can say the battle
against election violence is significantly won.
It is trite to note that this model will fail
where the larger number of youths allow their conscience to be bought over. Let
me reveal one secret to you. The average politician fears a strong and
indivisible body of youths in an election far more than he may dread his
opponent. So they try to break the ranks of any youth group that they consider
to be focused, and resolute. Money, as you know, is often the bait. Once the
ranks are broken and camps are created among you, you become their tools.
Before you realise that you are just a tool, you are already taking up arms
against yourselves. This way, the politician wins. You lose. And when you
lose, your community loses; your future loses; posterity loses. Akwa Ibom
youths knew this in 2007, and that was why we collectively stood on the side of
our conscience. We resisted money from those who tried to split our ranks. We
refused to be divided so that we could stand for what we believed in. It was
the sacrifice which we had to make. Today, Akwa Ibom is the better for it.
Every goal is first made and achieved in the
mind. Then there is a sacrifice for it. Then there is the tangible achievement.
From the statistics since 2003, you have seen that the number of deaths and destructions
recorded in each election in Nigeria only continues to increase. This is the
time to work against the ugly phenomenon. Until we stand up and save our own
future as youths, no one will. There has never been a more urgent time to act
than now.
I thank you.
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