How new media and new movements will shape the 2019 elections
As already seen at the 2011 and 2015 elections, social media is playing an important role in disseminating information and creating new trends. While hashtags like #BringBackOurGirls have mobilized people to protest against a perceived failing of government on security matters, social media has largely been adopted by politicians as a convenient propaganda tool and a channel to discredit their opponents. All the same, a number of political groupings are now emerging that are keen to exploit the popular disillusionment with the APC and PDP.
The Not Too Young To Run initiative, created by the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement, seeks to encourage youth inclusion in political processes. It promotes the removal of age barriers to running for office and aims to address inequalities in the political system, and has been adopted by the UN as a global campaign to encourage young people to run for public office. In Nigeria, the Not Too Young To Run bill, signed into law by President Buhari in May 2018, reduced the lower age limit for presidential hopefuls from 40 to 35, while the minimum age for candidates for election to the House of Representatives was reduced from 30 to 25.8
Another non-aligned citizen-led group is the Red Card Movement, led by the former federal minister of education and social affairs activist Oby Ezekwesili. The movement aims to end what it sees as poor leadership in politics and governance in Nigeria, and advocates citizens’ participation in politics and elections; it also envisages serving as a sort of watchdog over government activities after elections. It emphasizes that it is not a political party, nor is it aligned to one.
One of the movements capturing headlines is the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), founded in early 2018 by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, which has claimed to be a grass-roots organization with 3 million members. The establishment of the CNM came shortly after Obasanjo published a statement launching a stinging critique of Buhari’s performance as president.9 In May, the CNM merged with a small political party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Another group, the Nigeria Intervention Movement, co-chaired by civil society activist Olisa Agbakoba, has the stated aim of fostering new political leaders from a range of backgrounds to ‘restructure Nigeria’s foisted Constitution and corrupt political order’.10
What these movements have in common is a sense that Nigeria needs to be ‘saved’ from the current crop of political leaders and that the current system is not sustainable. They are also raising awareness of the power that citizens hold, and calling for an end to what they see as political impunity by encouraging the electorate to hold political leaders to account. Whether the current enthusiasm for these movements can be built on beyond the elections remains to be seen, but if the momentum is sustained the 2023 elections could see a younger and more engaged political class.
8 Omilana, T. (2018), ‘Buhari signs Not Too Young to Run Bill into law’, The Guardian, 31 May 2018, https://guardian.ng/news/buhari-signs-not-too-young-to-run-bill-into-law/ (accessed 9 July 2018).
9 Ibekwe, N. (2018), ‘Obasanjo attacks Buhari, asks president not to run in 2019’, Premium Times, 23 January 2018, https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/256426-obasanjo-attacks-buhari-asks-president-not-to-run-in-2019.html (accessed 9 July 2018).
10 Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM) (2018), ‘About NIM’, http://nimng.org/about/ (accessed 23 July 2018).