The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, says Nigerian cannot have a proper election without youths’ participation.
He made this assertion on Wednesday at the University of Lagos, Akoka, during a campus outreach to sensitise students on the need to participate in the upcoming elections.
Speaking to the hundreds of students who gathered at the J. F. Ade Ajayi Auditorium, he urged them to register and collect their PVCs as that was their power to effect change.
Recalling that in their days students fought their ‘Aluta’ battles on the streets, the INEC chairman noted that the means to effect change had moved from the streets to the polling booths.
He encouraged the students to take full advantage of the registration centre which has been opened on the campus to register.
He added that they should not use the PVC for banking purposes alone.
Prof. Yakubu allayed the fears of the students about the insecurity that have for long been part of electoral processes in the country, insisting that the environment for conducting elections in the country was getting progressively better.
“We are not there yet but we are getting there. As our democracy matures, things will be better,” he said.
He blamed the low turnout of voters for the violence that goes on at polling centres.
According to him people are emboldened to be violent at polling centres because they meet very few people there.
He argued that “nobody will go to a polling centre where he knows that there will be large number of people who will challenge them.”
Prof. Yakubu posited that continuous engagement by the youths and security agents will help curtail the incidences of electoral violence.
He also urged the youths to work with the commission beyond serving as election duty staff.
He said they should be active participants and agents of change by casting their votes.
He assured them that the era when votes did not count were gone.
The INEC chairman disclosed that in spite of stories making the rounds on social media about underage voters in some parts of the country, the commission had never received any actionable complaints.
He therefore urged those who had proof of such acts to reach out to the commission, assuring that such would be treated and followed to a logical conclusion.
In his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatosin Temitayo Ogundipe, noted that youths constitute an important segment of the Nigerian population.
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He described them as “energetic, innovative, adventurous zealous and veritable change agent.”
He however pointed out the need to properly harness the energies of the youths.
“These qualities must be properly harnessed and channeled in the right direction it they must yield positive dividends. One of the worthy causes to which young people’s interest and ideals must be directed to in Nigeria is the attainment of good governance and to attain good governance, young people must be involved in the electoral and political processes,” he said.
The VC said youths could not be effective change agents if they remained aloof and apathetic to electoral and political processes.
He urged them to utilise their numeric strength positively.
Mr. Oluwatosin Otekaye, a 500 Level Systems Engineering student, implored the students in particular and youths in general to register and participate in the 2019 elections, assuring them that their votes would count.
According to him, their PVCs and votes were the only means through which they could effect change.
“Social media does not bring change. We have to come out and vote. Change does not come by you sitting down in your room and analysing issues,” he said.
In his goodwill message, Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria and Africa, Ambassador Ketil Karlsen, said that for Nigeria to have a truly consolidated democracy, it must be reflected in the participation of the youths in the democratic processes.
He pointed out that the youths were not only the future of the country but it’s present.
He expressed his desire and resolve to build the strongest partnerships ever between the EU and Nigerian youths.
The ambassador disclosed that the EU had spent over 100 million euros in support of electoral processes in the country since 1999.
Panelists at the outreach – Helen Paul, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Ayo ‘AY’ Makun, Basket Mouth and Babatunde Durowoju, a 400L Sociology student of the University of Lagos, with one voice, urged the students to register and vote.
They emphasized that the votes would count in 2019.
The outreach was organised by INEC in partnership with EU, European Centre for Electoral Support and YIAGA Africa.
