In the last decade, Nigeria has witnessed an upsurge in youth-led political engagement, largely driven by frustration with the status quo and inspired by global democratic movements. Hashtags like #EndSARS, #NotTooYoungToRun, and electoral efforts by youthful candidates signaled a shift or so it seemed. As elections come and go and the old guard retains its grip, the elephant in the room has to be addressed. Is Nigerian youth political participation bringing real change, or is it merely symbolic?

The Illusion of Inclusion

The 2018 Not Too Young To Run bill was widely celebrated as a legislative breakthrough. It reduced the age limits for running for key political offices and sparked excitement among youth eager to lead. But seven years after, the data tells a less hopeful story.

Youthful candidates remain largely underfunded, under-supported, and marginalized within mainstream parties. Even when young politicians win seats, they often do not have the structural power to influence decision-making in a political ecosystem still dominated by godfathers, patronage, and opaque party dynamics.

Nigerian youth make up over 60% of the population and nearly half of registered voters, yet their influence on political outcomes remains minimal. Most political parties still field septuagenarians and octogenarians as presidential candidates, reflecting entrenched gerontocracy.

Even youth-led political parties like the African Action Congress (AAC) or movements like Take It Back struggle to gain mainstream traction due to systemic and financial barriers.

Comparing Continental Movements

If you attempt to contrast this with Burkina Faso, you see that you cannot compare the political terrain. In 2014, a youth-led uprising forced long-time President Blaise Compaoré to resign after 27 years in power. The Burkinabé youth didn’t just demand change, they enforced it through mass mobilization and sustained civic engagement. Although the political terrain remains unstable, the youth were still able to show what real disruption could look like.

In Sudan, a youth led movement that consisted mostly of young women, were at the forefront of the 2019 revolution that ousted President Omar al-Bashir. Their persistent protests demonstrated that when youth organize outside traditional political frameworks, real power shifts are possible.

Kenya and Uganda offer different lessons. In Kenya, youthful candidates like Babu Owino and Jaguar have entered parliament, but criticisms persist that they mirror the same corrupt, performative politics they once opposed.

In Uganda, musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine (Robert Kyagulanyi) electrified the youth with his People Power movement. Yet, his challenge to President Museveni’s long rule has been met with violent repression, highlighting how youthful insurgencies often crash against the walls of entrenched autocracy.

Youth vs. The System

There is a pattern that keeps repeating itself when it comes to youth participation in politics across Africa. This pattern would usually manifest in young leaders becoming complicit and rising through the same political structures they critiqued, thereby maintaining the status quo.

In Nigeria, the co-optation of youth activists into government advisory roles are often with little real influence that dilutes their radical potential and pacifies the urgency for systemic reform.

Many are appointed as Special Assistants or Youth Ambassadors without clear portfolios, budgets, or policy leverage. This cosmetic inclusion tends to serve elite political interests rather than the needs of Nigeria’s teeming youth population.

What remains is often tokenism and the inclusion of youthful faces for optics, without the power or autonomy to effect change. The rise of social media influencers in politics further complicates the landscape.

While they mobilize followers and occasionally shape public discourse, the performative nature of their activism rarely translates into votes, policies, or structural power redistribution. Popularity online does not automatically translate into legislative impact, and when it does, it’s often superficial.

But the argument should not be about the absence of capacity. It’s that the political environment fails to empower them meaningfully. If young people are to be taken seriously in governance, they must not only be given a seat at the table but also the authority and resources to address the issues that affect their generation most directly.

The Issues Youth Face

These issues are not abstract, they are urgent and immediate. Some of them include:

• Youth Unemployment: The official youth unemployment rates in Nigeria is hovering around 40%. But the reality is worse than that as many young Nigerians are stuck in a cycle of joblessness, underemployment, and informal labor. This is a ticking time bomb that requires holistic economic reforms, entrepreneurship support, and vocational training programs. Young leaders are best positioned to craft and implement the necessary policies.
• Education Reform: Access to quality, affordable education remains a challenge. Public universities are underfunded and frequently disrupted by strikes. Meanwhile, curricula often fail to prepare students for the realities of today’s job market.
• Digital Infrastructure & Innovation: Nigeria’s young tech-savvy population faces systemic barriers. These range from inconsistent internet access to government crackdowns on digital platforms, such as the 2021 Twitter ban. Leaders could push for policies that nurture digital entrepreneurship and safeguard online freedoms.
• Mental Health & Social Services: The psychological toll of economic instability, insecurity, and social pressure is rising. Yet, mental health remains underfunded and stigmatized. Young leaders, grounded in these lived realities, are better equipped to prioritize this neglected sector.
• Climate and Environmental Justice: Nigeria’s youth are increasingly aware of the climate crisis, particularly as it affects rural livelihoods and urban pollution. However, youth-led climate policies rarely gain traction in government.
• Security and Police Reform: Following the #EndSARS protests, many young Nigerians are acutely aware of the dangers posed by unchecked state violence. Genuine reform requires youth voices not just in protest, but in policy-making rooms where security strategies are decided.

Empowering Young People is Crucial

These are not just “youth issues” they are national survival issues. If we say that the youth are the future and the “leaders of tomorrow”, then empowering young people should be a priority. This should not be done as charity or political correctness, but as a strategic necessity.

Without a deliberate shift toward transformative inclusion where youth are not just seen, but heard and empowered, Nigerian politics will continue to eat their young, literally.

The question is no longer whether youth should participate. It’s whether the system will allow them to lead meaningfully or simply recycle them into its performative machinery.

The Young Leaders Nigeria Should Be Paying Attention To

Despite the noise and cynicism often surrounding youth participation in Nigerian politics, a number of young leaders are stepping up. They are quietly and courageously challenging the status quo.

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV)

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV), a gubernatorial candidate under the Labour Party in Lagos State, represents a fresh breed of Nigerian politicians: educated, articulate, reform-driven, and rooted in grassroots advocacy.

His campaign in the 2023 elections centered on progressive governance, equitable urban development, and ending state-enabled thuggery. Yet, despite resonating with many young and middle-class voters, GRV faced a wall of entrenched political machinery, ethnic scapegoating, and media underexposure.

His story is emblematic of how youthful candidates with substance are often sidelined. It’s not due to a lack of ideas, but because they threaten established power blocs.

Rinsola Abiola – APC

Another promising figure is Rinsola Abiola, a youth and gender rights advocate who has been pushing for broader representation of women and young people within the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A vocal critic of tokenism, she has championed internal party democracy and the empowerment of marginalized voices in decision-making processes. Yet, her work remains largely unrecognized by the mainstream political establishment. Youth wings of parties are still treated as ceremonial appendages rather than policy-shaping bodies.

Her trajectory illustrates the uphill battle that principled young politicians face. They must navigate Nigeria’s deeply hierarchical and often patriarchal political culture.

Bankole Wellington (Banky W)

Similarly, candidates like Bankole Wellington (Banky W), who ran for the House of Representatives in Lagos, have used their platforms to articulate a vision of citizen-centered governance rooted in transparency and accountability.

His campaign mobilized a diverse, youth-driven constituency and introduced policy conversations into Nigeria’s often personality-driven politics. But despite his popularity and clear intent to serve, Banky W’s political journey has faced significant challenges. Election irregularities and a lack of institutional backing have marred his efforts.

These examples make it clear that Nigeria doesn’t lack capable young leaders. What it lacks are systems that allow them to thrive.

Where Do We Go From Here?

For youth participation in Nigerian politics to shift from symbolic to substantial, a few things must happen:

1. Decentralize Power: Real change will only come if young politicians can influence policy at local and state levels, where many decisions affecting daily life are made.
2. Restructure Political Parties: Youth wings of parties are often decorative. A structural shake-up is needed to empower youth with decision-making authority, not just campaign responsibilities.
3. Build Parallel Institutions: Civic groups, digital cooperatives, and local organizing may offer alternative pathways to influence outside the traditional system.
4. Finance the Youth: Political financing remains a barrier. Without access to funding, even the most capable young candidates are sidelined.

When it comes to Nigerian politics, understanding that youth involvement does not equate power is the first step to any real change. Without intentional structural changes, a youth-centered political transformation cannot happen. This will demand a fundamental rethinking of power, participation, and purpose.

Until then, Nigerian youth may continue to be celebrated, but only as symbols, not as sovereign changemakers. The challenge is to transform that symbolism into real, sustained influence. Otherwise, the revolution will not be televised. It will be postponed.