Nigerian youths expressed their anger of the  ruling party through the ballot-analyst

By William Milasi

A political analyst has said Nigeria’s general elections have seen young people expressing their anger and frustration of the ruling party through the ballot.

One of Nigerians leading political analyst told NewsDigest in an interview that young people indeed came out and expressed themselves through the ballot.

Nigerians are expecting an improvement in their livelihoods from a man who is going to take over from President Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari’s promised an improvement on people’s livelihoods, however, he is leaving Africa’s biggest economy in a battered shape a situation which has seen over 130 million Nigerians living in abject poverty.

With provisional results pointing to a possible  win by the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) party Presidential candidate Bola Tinubu, Nigerians are demanding more.

While the opposition has described the elections as a sham, with calls of condemnation being led by main  opposition leader Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and  Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) who is currently third on the national vote share then followed by other fringe opposition parties.

Nigeria is currently struggling with Islamist insurgencies in the Northwest, armed attacks, killings and kidnappings, conflict between livestock headers and farmers amongst other challenges.

“The results of the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections are coming with great expectations from Nigerians especially young people. They feel the political class is not “speaking their language “. The world has become so small that they feel what they see in other countries are not seen in their own country especially with the resources around them both human and material,” a political analyst Charles Kalu said.

According to Kalu the country’s  young people want to be heard as they  trooped out to register and collect their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs.

“And they really spoke with their PVCs during the election. Some of the results are shocking and surprising. They insisted they voted must count and they voted and “protected the votes”

He added that the country’s general elections are  almost like a referendum on the out going administration which came in with high expectations of Nigerians in 2015 when the Buhari administration was sworn in on May, 29, 2015.

“Recall that in October, 20, 2020, young Nigerians under the #endsars trooped into the streets in several cities in Nigeria to protest the highhandedness of a Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad(SARS). It later became bloody as the army and police allegedly killed protesters which the government and the various security agencies later denied. The protest were violently cracked down. Panels of inquiry were set up by the various state governments. No one literally listened to the young people after these protests,” he said.

He added the ruling  APC, carried on as if all was well.

“With the country in the midst of a dwindling economy where the government is even borrowing to service foreign loans. “The perennial fuel scarcity which the incumbent president Mohammadu Buhari promised to stop persisted. Millions of young people without jobs and several millions more out of school children. Who will bell the cat?”

He added the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, refused to play the role of checking-mating the ruling party over its perceived mishandling of the economy.

“The opposition party does not have a coordinated team to critique the ruling government,” he declared.

Youths he said are investing hope in 61 year old presidential candidate of the Labour Party, and former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi who seems to saying what the people want to hear.

“He says he will work to return Nigeria to a progressive mode. The APC Presidential candidate and former governor of Lagos State, 71 year old, Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu has promised to continue with some the policies of the incumbent while the 76 year old, Mr Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president believes that he can return Nigeria to the glory days of the PDP that governed Nigeria between 1999 and 2007 when he was the deputy of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“Well, this in mind, young people felt that it’s their time to take back their country just as Mr Obi has severally told them. He says the election is not about him but about young people whose country has been taken over by the ruling political class,” he said.

He added in the country expectations are very high.

“Nigerians feel and believe that the grass is greener on the other side. They want a government that will revamp the economy and provide enabling environment for business to thrive and for Nigeria to work again as they believe it’s not working for all now. Ordinary Nigerians are not happy about the unending fuel scarcity, coupled with a bungled currency redesign by the Federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria. Just imagine, what Nigerians are passing to try to change their old  naira currency to the new one,” he said.

Kalu added for a country in transition, Nigerians are expecting a peaceful handover of power.

“Nigeria today is a country in transition and we look forward to a peaceful hang over from one civilian government to another. But, one thing is certain that Nigeria will have a new president by May, 29, 2023,” he said.