Kadade: Shaping the Political Space for the Nigerian Youth -By Khalifa Musa Muhammad

Chance favours the prepared mind – Louis Pasteur

The exclusion or marginalization of the youth in decision making negatively affects the peace and progress of this country. If the youth are not carried along they do not just get frustrated but become idle. And, as the saying goes, the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. As a result of this, some of them succumb to the devil’s desire instead of partaking in other progressive activities.

The uproar, upthrust and upsurge behind the clamour for the Not-Too-Young-To-Run bill are testimonies that Nigerian youth are not happy with their representation in the political space. This same anger was channelled into the EndSARS protests of October 2020. According to United Nations population projections for 2020, about 62 percent of Nigeria’s population – constituting the youth – are younger than 25 years. No wonder, they never fail to express their lack of adequate representation.

The just concluded Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention has sent a strong message to the Nigerian youth. If political parties are the heart of a democracy, then representing the broad spectrum of interests ensures their survival. Successfully, the PDP as the major opposition party has moved to appease the youth by giving them a sense of belonging. Unlike the old practice of electing/selecting over-40 year-olds as youth leaders, the PDP elected a 25-year-old, Prince Muhammad Suleiman Kadade, as its national youth leader.

The two people that contested for the position of national youth leader are Sani Shehu Usman popularly known as El-Kudan and Kadade. El-Kudan is influential and has held several positions in the party and most importantly he has the most effective lubricant in politics: money. Kadade knew he had a mountain to climb so he did his homework and ran a tough campaign by sending a clear message to the public that he symbolises “the content and character” to occupy the office.

Kadade’s exploit has made him to be a member of the National Working Committee of the PDP. Prince Kadade has risen to be an influential and key figure of the PDP at such a young age. But when you look at it, Kadade did not achieve this by being a spectator, instead he laboured for it – by being an active party member. Fortunately for him the PDP zoned the position of the national youth leader to his state, Kaduna. He saw it as an opportunity and he triumphed. Certainly, for one to be successful preparation must meet opportunity.

Politics has always been labelled as a dirty game for the rich and elderly. The case of Kadade should serve as an inspiration to most Nigerian youth. To begin with, Kadade has been active in politics and never has there been a proof that he has engaged in any dirty activity. Also, he is not a person with deep pockets. Lastly, at such a young age he has become a key stakeholder of the PDP. This is a case in point for those aspiring to join politics. Kadade has shown that he is articulate and capable of doing the job. His competence has really worked for him. My perception of him is that he will stick to the script without skipping any scene(s).

Kadade has a very important role to play, especially as a role model. In addition, he is duty bound to aggregate the interests of the youth and ensure that their interests are integrated in all activities of the party. From ward level upwards he has to echo the importance of involving the youth in decision making. Also, he has been able to garner support widely and it is important that he works on consolidating his base. Numerous politicians started well but they are now in oblivion. Kadade should study why they were banished to the labyrinth of ignominy, disregard and neglect in order to avoid that.

Political parties are set up to satisfy interests and people join these parties for their interests to be satisfied. The youth constitute the majority of Nigeria’s population and eligible voters. Remember, politics is a game of numbers. So, other parties will not sit and watch idly allowing PDP to appease the interest of the youth in one fell swoop without countering. The convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is coming soon. Quite a number of young individuals in the APC are vying for the seat of the national youth leader. Even if APC gets to elect someone more competent than Kadade they still have more work to do to convince Nigerians against 2023.

The emergence of Kadade gives an inkling that PDP has presented opportunities to the Nigerian youth to actively participate in the political process. This will enable the youth to respond to challenges by offering solutions which will spur and advance development in Nigeria. The moment this works we will have more interested youth in politics. If the desired output is obtained, hopefully political engagement of the youth will help reduce their engagement in nefarious activities. Nigerian youth are tired of “siddon look.” Already the PDP has responded by saying it is youth O’clock. What the PDP did was a masterstroke. Nigerians are now keenly observing how things will unfold, especially for the APC.

Khalifa Musa Muhammad a political commentator from Kaduna