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| KDI Team Lead, Idowu addressing youths at the Awka DemTalks |
Kenechukwu Ofomah
Awka
The very low interest in election participation exhibited by Nigerian citizens has been attributed to their lack of understanding of how much power the government wields and how such powers can impact their lives positively or negatively.
The team lead, Kimpact Development Initiative, KDI, Bukola Idowu gave the view during a voter mobilization activity ahead of the November 8 Anambra Governorship Election, organized in Awka by the KDI, christened, ‘Awka DemTalks Youth Outreach Program.
The program also featured the introduction of the Naija Elections platform, Nigeria's first AI-powered electoral platform, a significant tech milestone that is built to transform how young Nigerians engage with the democratic process.
It attracted various youth stakeholders from the National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN, the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Students Union Groups, Faith-based Youth Groups, Community-Based Youth Groups, as well as security and information management agencies, such as the Nigeria Police Force and the National Orientation Agency, NOA.
The idea is to engender a shift from the very poor voters’ performance in the last governorship election in the state in 2021, where only 10% (about 250,000 voters), out of the over 2.5 million registered voters in the state, participated in the exercise.
According to the KDI team lead, Idowu, the Awka ‘Dem Talks’, which is a short abbreviation for Democracy Talks, an initiative the KDI had taken to various states, especially those that have elections, to reorient the youths to develop a positive attitude towards elections.
He explained that the program aligns with the vision of the organization to promote democratic governance, public policy advancement, and youth development.
Idowu revealed that the ‘DemTalks’ is targeted at voter education and mobilization, aimed at improving voter turnout during the 2025 Anambra Election.
“Elections are a very critical exercise in any democracy, through which any society enthrones its leaders and according to the Nigerian constitution, these leaders would be responsible for taking very critical decisions on behalf of the people for the next four years.
“Our observation is that there is serious voter apathy, because the people do not understand how important government is to their existence. They think it is about the politicians and the political parties.
“But, the truth is that we have seen people complain just a few months into an administration they refused to partake in the election that brought them into power.
“Our people must understand that only one single wrong decision by the government can change a lot for the people, and that they lose their right to complain on issues when they refuse to perform their civic responsibility to elect the kind of leaders they need to engender genuine change,” he said.
Idowu explained that the reason to engage the youths through voter education was because they constitute a significant chunk of the voting population in the country, adding that when the youths decide to play their expected role in the electoral process, the nation will begin to get the right leaders.
Declaring the program open, the State Director of the National Orientation Agency, Edozie Ajaegbu said in a digital society, where technological advancements have had a significant impact in democratic processes and elections, the development of an Artificial Intelligence powered tool, designed to enhance electoral and democratic participation, is germane.
He commended the KDI for initiating the AI-powered tool, NaijaElections, for electoral and democratic information, noting that NOA aligns with KDI that the AI-powered tool will significantly address the gap in the electoral and democratic information.
“We assure KDI our willingness, determination, and readiness to collaborate with her to deepen the knowledge, attitude and practice of the AI-powered tool for electoral and democratic information,” he said.
In a goodwill message, the State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Mrs Pauline Ojisua, represented by Mrs Ferdinand Anya assured that the NYSC will play its expected role in the conduct of the November election.
Panelists during a discussion at the forum identified several issues hindering the participation of youths across various segments in the election and offered solutions.
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