“Basket mouth wan start to leak again ohh”
This song has been stuck in my head for a few days,hopefully I’ll draw some sort of inspiration from it. Really I’m just making frantic efforts at writing again,its been how long? 6 months? I’ll blame my absence from the blogosphere on account of my being a “working-class man” (well the only difference between being an intern and a full-time staff of an organisation in these parts is- an intern does more (dirty) work and gets less pay or like in my case none at all),so its safe to call myself a member of the working class population. Anyway this new status,stressful and not so rewarding as I expect,has been a really big eye opener for me. The other day,I was having a conversation with a man at the office and he brought up an issue of this PDP guy that defected to the APC and the president had his security taken away. Honestly,I had work to do and after a few “uhn-s” “yes”s and “ahh that’s bad”s I stood up to leave for my lab. I had barely taken five steps when he shouted:
“WHY ARE YOUNG PEOPLE SO UNINTERESTED IN POLITICS?”
Personally,I think we are less apathetic and more interested in public issues and current affairs than is supposed. But politicians,as well as the word “politics” are seen as boring,irrelevant and even an immediate turn off for some of us. Low levels of interest in the political process,underlined by the turn outs in elections over the years cannot tell the full story seeing as those labelled to have the least interest have “political concerns” and may have taken part in activities such as signing a petition,joining local protests e.t.c
Truth is,people vary in the levels of interest in political activities and so we can’t be treated as a uniform group. Some young people are very active,others claim to be wholly cynical or indifferent. In between this group is another group whose political interests are limited to issues that affect them personally.
Its sad to admit that no matter how interested we are,there’s this feeling of hopelessness,powerlessness. We live in a nation where 70 year old men fight tooth and nail for public service offices.
If you ask me,I’d say
* politicians and educators should instead of focusing on our lack of interest should giver consideration to how best to represent our interests.
* more imaginative and entertaining political education lessons should be taught in schools
* emphasis should be laid on media coverage of political issues affecting young people
* More efforts must be made by politicians to consult us young people and know our concerns.
If you want us to play bigger,active roles in public affairs you must show us that politics is more than the “yah-boo” of party politicking.
Hungry Ijebu Boy 