None of President Muhammadu Buhari's ministerial nominees is by any means a youth. A debate on the reason for this glaring exclusion of the youth got quickly obfuscated by the claim that the youth are inexperienced to function as members of the federal cabinet. Unfortunately, this matter cannot be easily swept under the rug.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the prime culprit for the exclusion of youths from top political positions in Nigeria. The constitutional age stipulation for becoming president of Nigeria is 40 and 35 for Senator. Juxtaposed with a developed country like France, where the minimum age for becoming president is 18, or the United States where a 35-year-old is eligible to run for president, the constitutional age barrier in Nigeria becomes untenable. In India, the world's largest democracy, the prime minister does not need to be older than 35. Of course France has yet to produce an 18-year-old president; neither the U.S. a 35-year-old president. Nevertheless, there are important advantages for the more inclusive stipulations of their constitutions. Chief among them is that their political systems, by implication, are more inclusive, more participatory and thus more democratic. By encouraging youth participation, it means young people can get into politics early; thereby, attracting young talents into party politics and government. Talented and ambitious young individuals would not feel they have to use their productive years in other fields before “retiring” into politics. This has the potential of increasing the quality of persons vying for elective offices or being considered for appointive positions. Government would be less a place for uncompetitive individuals and less the place to forcefully rehabilitate a failing career. Many years ago, a close associate refused to get a job in the banking sector. He said, by his assessment, he couldn't see how he would get the chance to be CEO in the new generation banks before he was 40. This says a lot about young people. We are ambitious! We don't want to get into politics if it means we would rise to the summit much later in life. Therefore, getting young persons into high political positions must begin by lowering the constitutional age barrier. While the U.S. has yet to produce a president that is 35 years of age, it is the country that has produced a 43-year-old president; not Nigeria. Canadians just voted a 43-year-old prime minister. We may reasonably infer that the higher the age barrier to elective offices, the much older the people who would get into them. Because youth participation is not ingrained in our political process, we can't even get youths to fill party positions that are designated for them. In June last year, the All Progressives Congress appointed 52-year-old Ibrahim Jalo as its National Youth Leader. The APC was simply following the playbook of the People's Democratic Party before it. A couple of years earlier, the PDP had elected 60-year-old Mallam Umar Garba Chiza as its National Youth Leader. We are in a new world where “experience” is inferior to creativity and innovation. From what was gleaned on television during the screening of the ministerial nominees, people would generally prefer the relative young ages of the nominees to the experience of the senators who came across as laid-back and outmoded for the technology age. Indeed, we cannot pretend not to know that the force of Nigeria's transformation is the youth and not die-hard, recycled, “experienced” politicians. But this is not to argue that the youth would automatically toe the line of positive politics and performance. The most recent face of the youth in a high political office was Dimeji Bankole, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives at a youthful age of 37. Instead of making a case for more youth participation by his personal example, he turned out to be a disaster for youth advocacy. He led the leadership of the House – a body that is appropriated for – to borrow billions of naira from a commercial bank, thus showing the same predilection for political corruption of experienced politicians. Nigeria's geriatric politicians are not mindful of the future. We have seen governors who have shared money from the Excess Crude Account, rather than leave it as savings for the future. Same governors don't even want Nigeria to have a Sovereign Wealth Fund. But they are supposed to be in office to safeguard our economic wellbeing and our future. Their failure at this recommends strongly that the youth should be more involved in governance as it impacts our welfare and future. The argument that Nigerian youth cannot lead is a fallacy. There is a critical mass of young entrepreneurs and executives managing large portfolios in the organized private sector where the leadership determines if the business would make profit or loss; swim or sink. With the right nudge, the cohort of dynamic and well-educated Nigerian youths can make a difference in both the private and public sectors. If 43-year-old John F. Kennedy could inspire Americans to go to the moon, and if France – a nuclear power – can allow an 18-year-old to run for president, it is complete lack of imagination that would make Nigeria not to want to trust a 35-year-old as minister. - See more at: http://www.financialnigeria.com/political-exclusion-of-nigerian-youths-blog-58.html#sthash.afffHb0f.dpuf
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