Perception of Nigerian Youths on the ‘Not Too Young to Run' Campaign

Abstract

There is no gainsaying that youths are great assets that any nation can tap. They are the future of the nation; they are equally potential investment for a country's development. The ‘Not Too Young to Run' campaign is aimed at giving constitutional opportunities to the youths to vie for political offices. However, it is important for the youth to be aware of this campaign. It is against this backdrop that this paper seeks to investigate the perception of Nigerian youths on the not too young to run campaign. This study examined perception of youths on the Not Too Young to Run Campaign. Youths in Offa Local Government were used as study. In conducting this study, four objectives were set which led to the adoption of survey research method as research design. Questionnaire was the instrument used in gathering data. The analysis of the data gathered reveals the following, that: the level of awareness of the youths on the ‘Not Too Young to Run' campaign is high, majority of the respondents consider the ‘Not Too Young to Run' Law passed by the National Assembly as an excellent law. Funding and fear of violence are the major barriers to the political participation of the youths in Nigeria politics. This study therefore recommends that the youths should be encouraged by giving them slots of political posts by political parties.  Youths occupying political offices should try to make good use of their offices to serve humanity. Political campaigns should be regulated so as to reduce fund involved in campaigns during elections.