“The new Nigeria is one in which citizens can criticize and hold leaders accountable.” If the statement made by Peter Obi suggests anything, it’s that the “current Nigeria” shows a high lack of accountability of political figures.
In other words, as we prepare for another election year, we should ask politicians more questions directly.
With the current state of Nigeria — high insecurity rate, increasing rate of inflation, destruction of lives and properties by floods, corruption, and so on — it is only fair that we not only start asking our politicians questions but engage with them in quality conversation.
If you need more motivation to do this, here’s some:
Youths are excluded from political conversations that affect their lives
For a country that has the bulk of its population as youths, they seem to be grossly excluded from political conversations. Despite the emergence of the “Not Too Young to Run” bill passed into law in 2018, 17 out of 44 of Nigeria’s current ministers are within the age range of 60 to 69. And our “youth minister” is 59 years old.
There’s hardly any evidence of our leaders working, and we need to ask WHY
Being classified as the “Giant of Africa” is no longer the “flex” it once used to be. This is because our statistics in key areas of the economy depict anything BUT gigantic stature. Nigeria’s inflation rate is currently at double digits at 21.32 percent. It is currently ranked the third worst country in the world in terms of insecurity.
And until recently, the naira crashed to an all-time low of N1,005 to a pound with the country facing an unemployment rate of 33 percent.
Recall that many of the issues happening were against the promises our current president made in his 2015 manifesto.
Where can you ask these questions?
We have partnered with Daria Media on its upcoming programme ‘The Candidates’, a series of town halls. It will be hosted by renowned journalist, Kadaria Ahmed.
This year, the town halls will feature six presidential candidates and their running mates. This will include Bola Tinubu, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Peter Obi.
This is not your regular town hall where you only get details after it has happened. You can be a full part of this process from beginning to end. The best part is — you can ask questions and get answers from leading presidential candidates.
Start by clicking this link and filling out the form. It’ll take just two minutes.
