It is a glaring fact to all and sundry that the forthcoming 2023 general elections have the highest number of youths actively participating in them since the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999. The youth have organized rallies, townhall meetings, interviews and other political events to be able to reach the grassroot members of the public. Many have said that the youth have decided to tow this path because of the government’s response to the weeks-long protests in October 2020 particularly at the Lekki Toll Gate.
As the countdown to the 2023 general elections continues, Nigerian youth are calling on political candidates at all levels to run issue-based campaigns and share their plans to transform the country for inclusive growth through job creation and healthcare strengthening. The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) projected that the rate of unemployment in Nigeria in 2023 has reached 37 percent, many of which are youth. The state of healthcare in the country is also cause for concern as patients’ out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure is more than 70 percent.
The ONE Campaign launches “Vote Your Future 2.0.”
Fortunately, the youth’s call to these candidates coincides with the ONE Campaign’s launching of “Vote Your Future 2.0,” which is a non-partisan governance campaign aimed at uniting citizens across the country in the run-up to the 2023 general elections. ONE collaborated with UNICEF’s U-Report in 2019 to survey 170,000 Nigerians in every state to determine the issues that were most important to them. More than half of the respondents wanted the government to address the issue of job creation to lift Nigerians out of extreme poverty, as well as the accessibility and affordability of healthcare.
Also, in 2020, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) found in a survey of Nigerian youth that the priorities of young people across Nigeria have not changed. Most of them still demand decent jobs and improvement in healthcare. This is not surprising. According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s combined unemployment and underemployment rate was 56 percent in 2020. That is more than 100 million unemployed or underemployed people. In spite of this, experts have estimated that between two to three million people will enter the Nigerian workforce annually between now and 2030.
Nigeria fairs poorly in employment and healthcare in Africa.
According to the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index survey carried out by the NBS, 63 percent of people living within Nigeria (about 133 million people) are multidimensionally poor. To lift a significant part of these people out of poverty, creating decent jobs will ensure more economic productivity and go a long way in addressing the issue. The issue of poverty is intertwined with others that people have raised, such as corruption, insecurity, etc. If the issue of insecurity is solved, for instance, farmers will be able to go back to their farms in states such as Benue, Plateau and others ravaged with bandit kidnappings and murder.
Reports have similarly shown that Nigeria has one of the worst health indicators in Africa. This drags down the socio-economic indicators of the entire African continent due to its huge population. According to USAID, Nigeria has one of the fastest growing populations globally. With 5.5 live births per woman and a population growth rate of 3.2 percent annually, it is estimated to reach 440 million people by 2050. To help address the high mortality rates, USAID supports increased access to quality family planning and reproductive health services, immunizations, polio eradication, malaria prevention and maternal health services.
USAID highlights health burdens of Nigeria in comparison with global standards.
The agency stated that Nigeria has the second largest number of people living with HIV globally and accounts for nine percent of the global HIV burden. The US Government, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), currently assists more than 600,000 Nigerians with life-saving HIV therapy, which is 90 percent of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. More than one million children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV receive care and support through these programs. Nigeria still has the highest burden of malaria globally which remains the top cause of child illness and death. From all these, it is imperative that the next administration must address unemployment and healthcare issues as top priorities.
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Youth call on candidates to share plans. – Nigerian youth ask for help on how to address unemployment and healthcare. – Express your point of view.
I’m happy the youths are involved in politics now. The candidates should all come for questions and get ready to tell us what they will do for us.
Normally during election period, politicians makes a lot of promises to the youths and all the citizens but it is very unfortunate after the election has come and gone none of the promises will implement by them and this is so because of our constitute lapses.
Youth call on candidates to share plans. It is very important for the youth to put their head down on this coming election. We need to the plan they have for us
This is truly what we need in Nigeria. A significant candidate that will assure and implement all necessary policy to safeguard a future for the youths and also solve other underlying issues.
It’s sad that our constitutional flaws mean that politicians can’t actually keep the promises they make to young people and the rest of the population when they’re campaigning.
The government should address the issue. I love the idea. Let know your plans and how you tend to execute this plans. This show lesson learnt and that we won’t settle for less.
There will be a record number of young people voting in the upcoming general election, the greatest since the return of democracy in Nigeria.
Nigeria desperately needs this right now. A major contender who can guarantee a future for the young and put in place all the policies needed to do so, while simultaneously addressing other systemic problems.
The attitude of the government to the weeks-long protests that took place in October 2020, particularly at the Lekki Toll Gate, has been cited as a major factor by many people as the reason why young people have chosen to follow this course of action.
Rallies, town hall meetings, interviews, and other political events have been arranged by the young people so that they can communicate with the grassroots members of the general public.
The fact that patients have to pay more than 70 percent of their healthcare costs out of their own pockets is another reason to be concerned about the quality of healthcare in our country.
We young Nigerians are demanding that politicians at every level run issue-based campaigns and reveal their plans to reform the country for inclusive growth through job creation and healthcare strengthening as the clock ticks down to the 2023 general elections.
Unemployment and healthcare is part of problem we face in the country the candidate should address how they want to tackle this issue we should no there plan
The future administration really must make combating unemployment and improving healthcare access their top goals. This is an absolute must.
It is tragic that Nigeria still has the largest burden of malaria in the world, since the disease continues to be the leading cause of illness and death among children.
Some of the problems we have as a nation are high unemployment and inadequate healthcare coverage; candidates should explain their plans to address these issues.
Several politicians only promises but never deliveres.Our politicians are greedy, they know what to do to resolve the problems of this country, but for as long as they want to eat alone they will not want to do the right thing. The youth are watching and are expecting more from the politicians.
What are the things that the youth stand to benefit if any of the aspirant becomes the elect? Several times we have seen and experience politicians with beautiful manifestos but empty promises. Let wait see what happens.
To reach the general public at large, the young have staged marches, town hall meetings, interviews, and other political activities.
In Nigeria, we really need this. A noteworthy contender who will ensure and carry out all required policies to protect young people’s futures and address other underlying issues