Political violence has become one of Nigeria’s most shameful democratic traditions. The youths, who should be the principal beneficiaries and custodians of the country’s future, are repeatedly recruited as cannon fodder in political battles they did not create. They are armed, paid to intimidate opponents, disrupt elections and unleash violence, only to end up dead, maimed, imprisoned or abandoned when the political contest is over.
The irony is almost obscene. The politicians who recruit and arm these young people do not send their own children to the streets with guns, machetes and other weapons. Their children are safely tucked away in reputable schools and universities in London, Europe, America and elsewhere. They remain protected from the violence they sponsor while the children of the poor pay the ultimate price.
The Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Henry Ndukuba, therefore struck a powerful chord with Nigerians when he condemned the recruitment of youths for election violence by politicians.
“None of these politicians sends their own children to carry out violence. Their children are in London, Europe and America. What they will not send their own children to do, they are sending our young people to do,” Ndukuba said at the opening of the 15th Anglican Chancellors, Registrars and Legal Officers Conference in Abuja.
Nigeria has yet to shake off the violence that has tainted its elections since the 1960s. In the elections conducted in 1964/65, more than 200 people were reportedly killed, particularly in the South-West.
Several lives and properties were also lost in the massive election and post-election violence that followed the 1983, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023 elections.
About 80 people reportedly died in 1999, while at least 100 were killed in 2003. The death toll from electoral violence rose to more than 300 in 2007.
The worst case was recorded after the 2011 general elections, when more than 800 people reportedly died following three days of rioting across 12 northern states.
The 2015, 2019 and 2023 elections were also marred by violence that claimed hundreds of lives. In the 12 months preceding the 2023 election alone, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data recorded more than 200 violent events involving party members and supporters.
Ahead of the 2027 elections, political violence has continued to punctuate Nigeria’s tortuous march towards genuine democracy. This year alone, disturbing incidents have been recorded in states including Edo, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kebbi, Lagos, Osun and Rivers.
Osun State holds its governorship election on August 15. Pre-election violence between supporters of the Accord Party and the All Progressives Congress was recently reported in areas including Aregbesola, Owode-Ede, Aisu, Old Garage, Olaiya and Oke-Fia in Osogbo.
Thirty deaths have reportedly been recorded during the pre-election period.
Even the Independent National Electoral Commission has not been spared. Between 2019 and May 24, 2021, INEC offices in 14 states were attacked 41 times. Between January 2021 and February 2023, ACLED recorded 44 violent incidents involving INEC offices and personnel.
This recurring bloodletting is a manifestation of the do-or-die attitude of many Nigerian politicians whose overriding interest is the enormous spoils of political office. They exploit hunger, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and the vulnerability of young people to recruit them into thuggery.
But the youths must understand that their greatest political weapon is not the gun, the machete, the cudgel or the ability to intimidate an opponent. It is their numbers.
Young Nigerians constitute a huge proportion of the country’s population and, by extension, an enormous voting bloc. That numerical strength gives them political power that no politician should be allowed to wield as an instrument of destruction.
Yet, too often, politicians exploit the desperation of young people with a few thousand naira, bags of rice, transport money, alcohol or other fleeting inducements and then send them into danger. A young man may receive a handout today, but the politician will still be in office tomorrow while the youth is left to confront the consequences of a criminal act, a gunshot wound, a prison sentence or death.
No temporary handout is worth surrendering a lifetime of potential.
The youth who accepts money to attack an opponent may be helping to install a politician who will spend four years enjoying the privileges of office while he remains unemployed, underpaid and frustrated.
That contradiction must end.
Young Nigerians should refuse to be rented thugs in their own country. They should refuse to allow politicians to turn their poverty into a weapon against their own future. They should understand that the same politicians who need their muscles during elections also need their votes.
Rather than accepting money to fight for politicians, youths should organise, mobilise and vote. They should demand accountability from candidates and parties, scrutinise their programmes and insist on leaders who can offer credible solutions to the problems that drive young people into desperation in the first place.
Their numbers should be converted from an instrument of violence into an instrument of democratic power.
Of course, the burden does not rest entirely on the youths. Electoral violence is also fuelled by compromised electoral processes, the proliferation of arms and the weakening or manipulation of critical institutions, including the judiciary and security agencies.
While the judiciary is sometimes accused of producing questionable judgments in politically sensitive cases, security agencies have also been criticised for looking away when election violence and other electoral malpractices occur.
For Nigerian democracy to mature, professionalism, accountability and neutrality must therefore be entrenched in the country’s institutions. Security agencies must protect voters rather than politicians; electoral officials must be allowed to perform their duties without intimidation; and the courts must remain independent arbiters of electoral disputes.
But the youths themselves must also recognise the extraordinary power they possess.
They should come out en masse to vote and, within the law, defend the integrity of their votes. They should help elect leaders who will not exploit hunger and unemployment to turn them into instruments of violence. They should remember that most politicians who recruit them for evil acts will dump them as soon as the election is over. If those politicians are truly confident about their programmes and popularity, they should have no reason to arm or incite anybody.
The campaign against political violence must therefore begin long before election day. Churches, mosques, schools, universities, youth organisations, civil society groups and other major public institutions should embark on sustained campaigns to educate young Nigerians about the value of their votes and the consequences of electoral violence.
The message should be simple and relentless: Do not sell your future for a politician’s handout.
Do not kill for someone who will never allow his own child to fight your battle. Do not surrender the power of your numbers for a few moments of political gratification.
Nigeria’s youths have the numbers to determine who governs them. They have the numbers to punish bad leaders at the ballot box. They have the numbers to reject politicians who regard them as expendable tools of electoral warfare.
The power is in their numbers, their votes and their collective voice, not in the weapons placed in their hands. They must not surrender that power for a fleeting handout today, only to inherit the consequences for the next four years or more.
