The Inevitability of Youths Participation in Politics – By; Dr. David Solomon

Without youth in active participation in politics, a nation is toyed with its future and undermines its existential capacity.

Youth engagement is a central principle of youth development.This is important because young people deserve the right to represent their own interest. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, gives Children and Youth the right to participate in decision making in matters that affect them, including politics and community contexts.

More than this, the UN Convention gives youth the right to informed decision making, which means that adults are legally obligated to educate and empower youth. This means youth must be part in the making of laws and requirements about school rules, health care and education. Adults must explain these issues, consult with youth and take their views into account. “There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair” -Martin Luther King Jr. If an average youth is not engaged, not informed of how laws are made and is denied in participatory governance, the resultant effect is self help which is the bane of youth restiveness. This is because he feels abandoned and dejected, hence, he could do anything to sustain his livelihood and seeks to be relevant in society.
An adage put, a hungry lion is an angry one.
The active participation of youth in politics must be seen as a beacon of hope for attaining purposeful and sustainable political leadership and stability. Youth does the practical work more than theoretical and the old. It gives a more effective result. Old men declare war but it is youth that must fight and die; in times of reform movements, youth in politics is key.

Youth civic engagement is critically important to prepare young people to be active citizens in a democracy. They should therefore, be given the chance to have a voice, the chance to be involved in decision making, the chance to be involved in law making at all levels and the chance to be involved governance. According to the ecological perspective of human development, young people are agents of their own development. Youth are more than passive recipients to external influence ( old people) instead they are actively involved in shaping their development by interacting with the people and opportunities made available within their environment.

Take a look at some eminent benefits of why youth must be in politics. (1) Young people benefit by gaining skills, knowledge, self-esteem and connectedness while in active politics. (2) comparatively, young people have fewer responsibilities and more zeal towards the betterment of society. (3) By making politics accessible to youth, the negative perceptions on politics can be slowly erased. (4) It enhances individual development as it provides youth with opportunities to generate real community change. (6) It stimulates upwards spiral in skill acquisition and manpower development. (7) It increases self discipline and time management. (8)Communities benefit by improving quality of life, coordinating youth services, and authentically embracing diversity by representing young people.
“It is not possible for civilization to flow backwards while there are youth in the world. Youth may be headstrong, but it will advance its allotted length” – Helen Keller. “The Youth of a Nation are the trustees of prosperity” Benjamin Disraeli. Legislative business is fundamentally for people with vigour but not for the weaklings. It’s an institution of research based, therefore, requires the resources of an ebullient, charismatic, enthusiastic and energetic vibrant youth to carry out such energy driven tasks; it demands a sound and intellectually inclined, teleological and research oriented homosapients. The words of Robert Kennedy will ever live to cleanse the augean stables in our emerging democracy. He said, “Our answers is the world’s hope; it is to rely on youth. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing plant will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement of danger. It demands the qualities of youth; not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease”. Conclusion: The strength of development and the ability to cause a change in any society, nation or/and a community, is in the power of youth age and not old age. Give a chance to the youth in this nation to effect a paradigm shift in the will of development.

Dr David Solomon is a prolific writer who has written uncountable International and Local journal articles. He is a lecturer in the Niger Delta University in the Department of Insurance and Risk Management in the Faculty of Management Sciences. Google David Solomon Pere on the internet to view his academic papers

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