Buhari’s cabinet and youth inclusion

BY IBRAHIM FARUK

Over the past five years, youth inclusion in democratic processes has gained global attention, buoyed largely by the emergence of young leaders across the world. In Nigeria, the Not Too Young To Run Movement addressed a major impediment to youth inclusion in the electoral process with the passage of the Not Too Young To Run (age reduction) bill.

This historic piece of legislation was a positive action towards closing the representation gap and signaled a shift towards inclusive politics. As a result of the reduction of age limits, Nigeria witnessed a new wave of competent and credible young women and men who aspired to run for office in 2019 Elections. For the first time in Nigeria’s post-independence history, young people between the ages of 25-30 are legally empowered to contest for seats in the House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly.

The direct and indirect impact of the age reduction bill is evident in how youth fared in the 2019 Elections. Across the 991 seats in 36 State Houses of Assembly, 68 members are between the ages of 31 and 35. While this represents only 6.08% of the members of the State Houses of Assembly, it is an improvement from the levels of youth inclusion in 2015. More importantly, there are 22 direct beneficiaries of the Not Too Young To Run Act in the State Houses of Assembly between the ages of 25 – 30. This is directly as a result of the age reduction legislation that was passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President on 31 May 2018.

The emergence of Rt. Hon. Saliu Yakubu Danladi, Rt. Hon. Abok Nuhu Ayuba, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin and Rt. Hon. Nasiru Magarya Speakers of the Kwara, Plateau, Oyo and Zamfara State Houses of Assembly respectively, who are all under the age of 35, also represents an improvement in the level of youth inclusion across state legislatures. Young legislators also occupy principal positions in various state legislatures following the passage of the age reduction bill.

The age reduction legislation goes beyond reducing the age for running for elective offices to also reducing the age for appointive positions in the Federal and state cabinets. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) states that ‘No person shall be appointed as a Minister of the Government of the Federation unless he/she is qualified for election as a member of the House of Representatives’ and that ‘No person shall be appointed a Commissioner of the Government of a state unless he/she is qualified for election as a member of the House of Assembly’ among other qualifications aimed at ensuring equal representation in the Federal cabinet, which has also been emulated across state executive councils.

In 2015, young people were mainly appointed as special advisers on new media. In states like Kaduna, Abia, Cross River and Anambra, young people were also appointed to prominent portfolios like Commissioners of finance, Budget and Planning, Youth and Sports Development. However, it took President Muhammadu Buhari six months to swear-in a cabinet after the 2015 election and a similar situation seems to be happening after the 2019 Elections (Senegal’s Macky Sall and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa both appointed ministers within days of being sworn in this year). An analysis of the composition of the President’s cabinet in 2015 did little or nothing to promote youth inclusion in decision making spaces.

During President Buhari’s remarks at the signing of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill in Abuja on May 31, 2018, he said to Nigerian youths represented at the State House, ‘You are undoubtedly Nigeria’s most important resource – not oil, not agriculture, not solid minerals – but you and all of us. Your energy, intelligence and talent are what will drive and develop Nigeria, long after we are all gone.” It is left to be seen if the energy, intelligence and talent will determine who the Presidents men and women would be when the list of ministerial nominees is sent to the Senate for confirmation.

While attention seems to be focused on the announcement of ministerial nominees, the state executive council provides more opportunity to increase the level of youth inclusion in decision making spaces. It is important to sound a note of caution that beyond the tokenistic appointments of youth as special advisers on new media or to the ministry of youth development but as President Buhari noted, ‘the young people of Nigeria, are now set to leave your mark on the political space, just as you have done over the decades in entrepreneurship, sports, art, media entertainment, technology, and several other fields.

The Not Too Young To Run law has provided an opportunity for the emergence of competent young officials to with competence, character and content to contribute their quota to national development in appointive positions in the federal and state cabinets. All eyes are now on President Buhari and the state governors as they constitute their cabinets.

Faruk is a senior programme officer with YIAGA AFRICA and a member of the Leadership and Strategy Team of the Not Too Young To Run Movement. He can be reached via [email protected]. He tweets via @IbrhmFaruk