Youths and Political Thuggery in Nigeria Due to the Country’s Ill Fate
As of March 2022, based on Worldometer’s elaboration of the latest UN data. Nigeria has a population of almost 215 million people. Which makes Nigeria contribute 2.64% of the global total population. Nigeria is the most populous black country in the whole world. Youths are the category that forms one-third of the country’s total population. Unfortunately, most of the youths are unemployed, uneducated, untrained, and unskilled to positively pitch to the meaningful economic development of the nation. These lead to an increment in the crime rate, youths and political thuggery in the country.
Youths at any time, day and night engaged in political thuggery and other nefarious activities, which is worrisomely trouble. Politicians use them as instruments of operation during campaigns and elections.
What is Youths and Political Thuggery?
Political thuggery is a facet of social violence, which is sharply damaging the sustainability of democracy. Due to severe unemployment and excess poverty, youths are directly or indirectly forced to involve in thuggery. They are involved in ballot box snatching, manipulation of electoral results, threatening their political counterparts, and many other dangerous activities.
Thuggery in every part of the country is like unstoppable night rainfall. They only vary in names from one state to another state, with little or no difference in their violent and abusive practices.
Political Thuggery in Different States
Here in Gombe State, the political thugs are well known as Yan Kalare, Ecomog in Borno, Yan Daukan Amarya in Adamawa, Yan Daba in Kano, Yan Sara Suka in Bauchi and Area Boys in Lagos State. All these groups of thugs are aimed at and hired by political class citizens to cause violence and problems in democracy during and after electoral processes. They instigate them to scare voters at polling stations. Or attack their opponents for nothing, less than their political ambitions. Youths’ involvement in thuggery become one of the features of politics in Nigeria. There is no electoral process that would pass without loss of lives, terrorizing, vandalizing, robbing, or burning resources of innocent citizens.
The Effect of Youths and Political Thuggery to Nigeria and Nigerians
The effect of thuggery on Nigerians and Nigerian democracy is but a dying and crying story. It kills lives and the sustainability of democracy, destroying resources worth millions of Naira. It’s killing the Nigerian economy and taking insecurity to a higher level. Since weapons and drugs are the main stirrers used by the selfish politicos to drive the teeming youths, who are already suffering from the severe beat of poverty and unemployment which is deliberately put in place.
Therefore insecurity is most likely to increase, day and night, in every part of the country. This is because drugs and weapons are best known for crime rate increment. If the situation takes a few steps, citizens will not respect one another and appreciate the diversity between them. They will lose interest in voting for the people they support for the mantle of leadership.
Godfatherism and political favoritism will take the place of free and fair election which usually brings the best and most credible leaders.
Consequences of Thuggery in Politics
Moreover, thuggery in politics infuses fear in the heart of most of the country’s people to take some steps back from the entire electoral activities, which endanger the life of democracy. Likewise, people with great interest, capacity, and credibility would sometimes be befriended by the fear of not contesting against someone. As a result of self-harm fright or to members of his/her family.
Thuggery may as well hinders the citizens from achieving democratic dividends. Not only that but some of the citizens’ necessary rights may be tightened up or totally denied. Like the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, right to vote, or to move from one place to another.
Besides, thuggery in politics kills political ideology or brings it to a flawless level—in both the hearts of the leaders and the followers. The worst consequences of political thuggery since its early birth lead to the assassination of vision and mission political leaders. Rigging of elections is also part and parcel of youths’ participation in political thuggery.
Youths as Agent of Thuggery
Youths are the causative agents of thuggery in Nigeria. They are powerful and energetic to carry out the task given to them by their political demigods, which the youths are barking for their interest. Old men and women can not do that because of the burden of age. Likewise, children who have the least energy and childish fear. So, youths are chosen to do that because of their energy.
They are being given drugs, weapons, and a little amount of money just to kill, arrest, kidnap, vandalize, and destroy people’s properties of worthy millions. They as well assassinate or eliminate the counterparts of their bosses. No one can tell the exact number of innocent people who lost their lives from the beginning of democracy in Nigeria to date. Or the exact amount of resources that have become ashes. Political thuggery causes a lot of damage to Nigeria democratically, economically, and socially.
Ways to Reverse Sustainability in Nigeria
However, if we want to reverse the sustainability of democracy in our dear country Nigeria, we must all put our hands on deck to change the present narratives of elections.
Jobs should be adequately provided to the teeming youths malingering in our streets who have nothing to do to earn a living. Education should be properly and appropriately given to them. It’s said that he who picks books drops a weapon.
Efforts should be increased in drug regulations. If we need to have absolute security, drug circulation should be dealt with, within and across Nigerian borders.
Parents should as well play their fullest quota in upbringing their children. And opportunities should be provided to them politically.
Additionally, when the government fights unemployment, poverty, corruption, drug abuse, and illiteracy, more especially among the teeming youths, Nigerian politics will be a pure crystalline one. Peace will cloud the present sky of Nigerian democracy, and it will give a newly filtered air for it to breathe. Every citizen’s thirst for the dividends of democracy would be quenched. Nigeria will again fly with its new feathers above the sky of happiness and wonderment.
In conclusion, what Nigeria needs the most if nothing less than a team of leaders who will afford to rebirth the new Nigerian democracy, where youths would be provided with the space to serve as leaders, to rule and govern as well, not to kill or to be killed as political thugs.
