POLITICS
DIANNA GAMES: Youth of Africa fight for a seat among decision makers
‘Julius Malema and Mmusi Maimane are about four decades younger than President Jacob Zuma — but African political systems are weighted in favour of incumbent parties’
As Zimbabweans brace themselves for the prospect of their 93-year-old president being re-elected in 2018, Nigeria is pushing for younger people to be eligible for political office.
The voting age in Nigeria is 18, but to be president or a governor in one of the country’s 36 states, citizens need to be at least 40 years old — and 35 to be a senator.
Last week, the Nigerian Senate and House of Representatives passed the #NotTooYoungToRun Bill, which includes provisions to allow young people to run for president from the age of 35 and as a governor or senator at 30. The bill also provides for 25-year-olds to legislate in the national and state assemblies. The campaign to support the bill was driven by a coalition of 80 Nigerian youth organisations, motivated by the UN’s #NotTooYoungToRun global campaign launched in 2016. The issue has been given momentum by the election as France’s president of 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron, whose appeal was apparently his youthfulness and the prospect that he would have new ideas to stir up the stagnant political pond.The UN campaign recognises the demographic shift to a much younger population, with people below the age of 30 forming the majority age group in many countries. They are allowed to vote but not hold political office in many countries. In Nigeria, this group is about 60% of the overal...
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