Innocent ‘2baba’ Idibia and volunteers of Youngstars Foundation met with Anambra state governor, Willie Obiano ahead of the 2017 governorship elections
mentorship program that would enable
young protégés get into positions of
leadership. Youth must rise to this
challenge and get involved.”
Historically, said McCutcheon, youth
have served as pawns in Nigerian
elections – recruited by politicians as
hired agents for violence, who for small
sums of money they would recruit to
disrupt polling places, snatch ballot
boxes, or worse.
Promoting Peace
To counter this trend, USAID supports
a campaign to raise awareness and
change attitudes and instill in youth
the importance of being active --and
peaceful-- participants in the process.
Since 2014, the Vote Not Fight: Election
No Be War campaign has utilized
popular culture to promote peace,
including peace concerts staged by
media star Innocent Idibia popularly
known as “2Baba.” As a longtime
volunteer peace Campaign Ambassador,
2Baba has led voter registration drives
and sponsors forums where candidates
sign peace pledges and commit to action
on campaign promises if elected.
The explosion of social media has
played a great role in getting the
12
youth of Nigeria more involved in
the politics of their country as well
as other social issues, USAID actively
supports overarching media work
under hashtags #VoteNotFight
and #ElectionNoBeWar from state
television to local media, advocating
for peace and participation anchored
by the profile 2Baba and his charitable
Foundation brings to the campaign
prescribing issues-based discourse as
the antidote to election-day violence.
“2Baba’s work cuts a path for other
CSOs,” says McCutcheon.
Political Party Engagement
USAID supports development of
strong, inclusive political parties to
strengthen their engagement with
constituents and develop platform-
based involvement with government
processes, and helping major parties
to become more representative of
and responsive to citizens. Not only
do USAID activities help improve
frequency and intensity of interactions
with their constituents, but also foster
better communication among party
officials, officeholders, candidates and
rank and file members at all levels.
“We’re trying to connect citizens to
governance to ensure citizens are
CROSSROADS | December 2018/January 2019
active participants in the political
process,” said Sentell Barnes, chief of
party of the International Republican
Institute in Nigeria, another longtime
USAID partner in elections support.
“By making sure that political parties
engage with their membership and
also reach out to citizens to identify the
issues so that once in power, we help
ensure those issues are addressed in a
meaningful way.”
At the end of the day, the U.S.
government, through its USAID
activities, wants to help Nigeria operate
on the basic tenets of what democracy
is, said Barnes. That consists of
ensuring free and fair elections, that
parties run their affairs without
interference from government officials,
and that INEC has the necessary
resources to conduct, free fair and
transparent elections.
“I believe in the power of the people to
elect their leaders,” said 2Baba. “I also
believe the process of elections should
be peaceful and civilized. Otherwise,
we stand to lose a lot.”
More on USAID elections support in
Nigeria:
https://www.usaid.gov/elections-0