Of all national birthdays, the one Nigeria celebrated on 1st October 2020 seems to be the only celebration that spinned down into the valley of democratic horror.
It turned out to be a pandemic birthday, as the year throughout the world wore an oblong face with a choking mask since the beginning of 2020.
2020 did not just push out a new dimension of survival to Nigerian youths, despite being quarantined for months in hunger and fear, when there were palliatives hidden in large quantities throughout the federation, but also gave the youth a voice and perhaps, the nerve to kick back at the government.
Just 9 days after the 60th celebration of Nigeria as a Federal Republic, the youth that tallied 43.46% of the entire country’s population, according to Statistica (2019), came out enmass to voice their anger and frustration. Hashtags of #ENDSARS #EndPoliceBrutality seem to be the first spark that plagued social sites like Twitter and Instagram for days before it trickled down to the streets where it gathered more strength daily for eleven consecutive days.
However, after the generational battle for supremacy between the government and the youth at Lekki Tollgate on the 20th October 2020, which the government has allegedly denied, it is rather obvious that the 2023 general election will not just be the routine competition between PDP and APC. It won’t even be a showdown of old people as witnessed in the past. The youths are angry and ready to take the bull by the horns.
“For 60yrs they couldn’t provide uninterrupted power supply”,a youth lamented. “These adults are not experienced in anything good, but corruption and bad governance”, another youth added. “Come 2023 we’re pushing them out! They’ve been in power since their 30s and still don’t know how to do anything right. These ones don’t know how to do anything. Our PVCs are ready and we’re just waiting for 2023”, said the chairman of the Nigerian Youth Democratic Party (NYDP), on their one month old Telegram page filled with an ever increasing amount of youth.