A critical element of the 2023 general election is the intensity and electricity of the Nigerian youths’ participation in the electoral process. Statistics may not fully capture or contextualise youth involvement in the 2023 national electoral process. The youth energy and involvement this time around deservedly forms a new chapter in post-1999 democratic politics. And we are all witnesses to their sheer determination to seize the moment and change the political orthodoxy.
This was sweet to the ears of many Nigerian youth , but especially to an already militant youth movement who quickly aligned with Obi and his philosophy and were ready for the first time to look for change through the democratic political process.
The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. Based on this physical law, it is self-evident that the energy of youths that powered the “Obidient movement” cannot be destroyed, and it may just move from one form to another.
History has shown how much such movement displaces existing political parties to become dominant in a brief time. For instance, the Labour Party is the main centre-left political party in the United Kingdom today . It is a Social democratic party that evolved from the Trade Union movement. It overtook the Liberal Democratic Party in the early 20th century to become one of the UK’s two main political parties.