Active participation by the citizens in the electoral process of any nation is important to achieve fair and effective governance.

More voter participation implies a more authentic representation of the population’s preferred electoral candidate. In the quest for change and accountability of elected officials, the people have an important role to play to move a country forward.

In the case of Nigeria, the growing voter apathy poses a risk to the democratic structures. There exists a need for wider and more effective civic and voter education among the populace to mitigate this. Voter education has been carried out mostly by government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with little or no involvement from the private sector. With the next elections fast approaching, private organizations need to practice their corporate citizenship with impactful community engagements to encourage Nigeria’s eligible electorates to practice their civic duties.

However, a few private organizations have begun to show their commitment to a better Nigeria. The recent partnership between Nigeria’s leading e-hailing platform, Bolt, and ACE Centre’s WeVote initiative birthing the MyPVCJourney (My Permanent Voter’s Card Journey) initiative symbolizes a move towards laudable collaborative effort and impactful community engagement. The strategic partnership serves as a form of social accountability. By collaborating, the private company and the NGO aim to educate Nigerians on their civic rights and responsibilities by creating step-by-step awareness of the country’s PVC registration and collection processes.

In 2019, 84 million Nigerians registered to vote in the presidential election. This was a 20% improvement from the 67 million in the previous presidential election of 2015, according to numbers recorded on Election Guide. Voter turnout, however, continued poorly in 2019 with only about 35% voting. The turnout of voters in Nigeria’s presidential elections peaked in 2003 at approximately 69%. From this period, there has been a steady decline with an average of approximately 15% up until the most recent election. These drastically low statistics call for swift intervention to encourage voter participation. It is an indication of the work to be done as the country approaches a new election year in 2023.

It is also taken for granted that Nigeria’s older population form the most active part of the electoral participants. For a young population like Nigeria, voter participation amongst the youth is critical for the country to attain the height of its democracy. According to a United Nations 2020 population projection, about 19% of Nigeria’s population are between the ages of 15-24, and over 62% below 25 years old. Although children and adolescents make up a larger segment of the population, the population of eligible voters (above 18 years) has a larger number of youths.

However, despite Nigeria’s youthful population, their participation in the electoral process remains low and reveals the need for young Nigerians to engage in the political affairs of the country. For the most part, Nigeria’s political conversations have been dominated by an older age grade, with a growing disinterest among the population, especially the youth. The same UN report shares that only less than 5% of Nigeria’s population are aged over 60. This stresses the importance of building civic responsibility among the populace with a little more attention paid to the youth.

This forms a core part of the partnership between Bolt and WeVote. While speaking on the initiative, Femi Akin-Laguda, Country Manager for Bolt, said, “Our community engagement efforts include initiatives that continuously show our commitment to developing the socio-political and economic landscape in Nigeria. We also work closely with relevant stakeholders like the ACE Centre, to create a direct positive impact on communities, showcased with initiatives like MyPVCJourney. As a partner for growth, we understand that we have a responsibility to educate and create awareness for more people to be part of the electoral process, especially the youth.”

This is not the first voter awareness initiative executed by Bolt. In 2018, the e-hailing giant ran a similar initiative on social media to inspire PVC registration. This time, the company chose to partner with an NGO for an even wider reach. The 2021 MyPVCJourney initiative seeks to educate Nigerians and promote non-partisan voter awareness and participation in the Nigerian electoral process, especially among the youth. A major goal of the initiative is to reduce the challenges of electoral participation by providing mobility for Nigerians to identify and access their nearest PVC registration locations. To achieve this, Bolt created a microsite that serves as a PVC registration site locator, a knowledge resource centre about voting in Nigeria, and a voter’s pledge generator which serves to promote voter engagement and accountability. So far, over 40,000 Nigerians have pledged on the site showing their commitment to play their part in Nigeria’s electoral process.

WeVote’s Convener, Obinna Osisiogu, while commenting on the initiative emphasized his organization’s commitment to fighting voter apathy among Nigeria’s younger generation. “As a non-partisan and non-governmental organization, we are determined to reduce voter apathy to its lowest level, especially among young and upwardly mobile Nigerians. We also applaud Bolt for its commitment through its MyPVCJourney initiative to mobilize Nigerians to register and vote by making it easier to locate and visit PVC registration centres. We hope other organizations can key into this movement to ensure every eligible Nigerian is registered to vote.”

By active participation in the electoral process, the political system becomes responsive to the people. Like Abraham Lincoln explained in his 1863 Gettysburg Address; “democracy as a system of governance is entirely by and centres on the people.” It is this idea in mind that gives insight as to why growing voter apathy in Nigeria is so crucial.

A country is its citizens and change can only happen with active participation, from everyone.