By EricJames Ochigbo

Calls for lowering voter age and rejecting e-voting on Wednesday in Abuja dominated the maiden edition of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS)-Democracy Radio secondary school debate.

Students from Africa Community School, Asokoro and Intelligence Quotient Academy, who emerged winners, made the call at the debate, organised to mark Nigeria’s 26th anniversary of unbroken democracy.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the topic of the debate was “Is E-Voting the Future of Nigeria’s Democracy/Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16 years.”

Miss Khadijah Matawale, a student of Intelligence Quotient Academy, said that every citizen had the right to life, freedom of speech and movement, and should be given the right to vote.

Matawale described voting as a process of electing leaders in a democratic setting by citizens, arguing that teenagers at the age of 16 are equally citizens.

According to her, if the aged have the right mindset to vote and have a say in what is going in government, teenagers at age 16 should also be allowed to vote.

“If everybody, irrespective of age or experience, is affected by bad governance, why can’t voting age be reduced to accommodate those of 16 years of age?

“In countries like Australia, Cuba and Brazil, they allow teenagers, 16 and 17 years of age to vote; why can’t that be implemented in Nigeria?” she queried.

On her part, Miss Oluwadamilola Wright of Africa Community School, argued that though technology looked like the way forward, there were lots of constraints.

Wright said that transparency could not be assured, as operators of the system were those appointed by people in power, thus making it difficult to be sure if the output was the will of the people or government officials.

She also stated that electronic systems could be very expensive to acquire and operate.

In his own contribution, Master Ogbodo Kelvin, of Government Secondary School, Area 10, Garki, argued that e-voting was the future of Nigeria’s electoral system and across the world.

Kelvin noted that the world was changing in terms of technological advancement and that e-voting would ensure empowerment, transparency and reduction in electoral fraud.

“We’re in a world where climate change is affecting us a lot. We will consume a lot of parts with manual voting but with e-voting, it will reduce the use of paper; we are conscious of our plight; it is democracy with a conscience,” he said.

However, Miss Oluwapamilerinayo Abobarin, an SS II student of Treasure Homes International Schools, argued that voting should be done by adult citizens alone.

Abobarin said that it was risky to allow younger teenagers to vote in deciding t fate of a complex nation like Nigeria.

“A 16-year old is not emotionally stable. Science shows that the part of the brain responsible for decision-making is not yet developed until mid-twenties.

“This is enough reason for us to see that a 16-year-old is not mature enough for such decision for the whole nation.

“They are still very dependent on their parents; they are easily influenced and manipulated by social media influencers, easy prey for cyber bullies and can be forced by someone in their neighbourhood to vote for a particular candidate.

“Imagine a 16-year-old becoming president of Nigeria, because the right to vote comes with the right to be voted for,” she said.

In an interview with NAN, the General-Manager of NILDS-Democracy Radio, Mrs Uju Nwachukwu, said that the initiative was centered around questions of interest to young people.

Nwachukwu said that following social media comments of young people after the 2023 elections, the debate was designed to propel new thinking among young people.

“What we are trying to do is more of awareness on governance and politics for younger people.

“At NILDS-Democracy Radio, our mandate is to bridge information gap between the governed and the government, and we are not leaving the younger generation.

“We want to get the younger generation talking; they are the younger demography that is most often over-looked; they will turn 18 in two years.

“At some point in time, they are going to be part of the system; so getting them involved now is a better strategy than waiting until that time where they express their discontent by other means like riots and protests.

“Getting them intellectually involved now, getting them to do research and understand things for themselves is the essence of this conversation,” she said.

Nwachukwu said that young people were very impressionable, as they could easily convince their peers to run with such ideas.

The general manager said that the debate would not be a one-off event but would be expanded to include university students. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq