By Ezra Ukanwa – Abuja

In order to drive massive participation of youth voters ahead of the 2023 general elections, a Civil Society Organisation, CSO, Yiaga Africa, and one of Abuja’s fastest growing Comedians, Chukwuyem Israel (aka Chuks De General), weekend, took a voter sensitisation campaign on Permanent Voters Cards, PVC, collection to Abuja National Youth Service Corps Orientation Camp. 

While addressing journalists during the campaign at the National Youth Service Corp, NYSC, orientation camp, in Abuja, the Senior Research Officer, Yiaga Africa, Michael Agaba, said the campaign which was supported by United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, was aimed at the youths, particularly corp members on the imperativeness to participate actively in the democratic process by collecting their permanent voter cards and ensuring that they participate in the 2023 general elections.

While noting that the campaign came on the heels of poor statistics of youth participation during previous elections, he said its target is to mobilize about 60 per cent youths to vote during the 2023 general elections.

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He said: “We want to see 60 per cent of youth turnout in the 2023 election. Right now, we are talking to the NYSC people because we know that some of them are going to be used as presiding officers, some assistant presiding officers on election day.

“And part of the reason that we had low turnout in our elections before is because people do not have confidence in the electoral process.

“We want to tell the corps members that some of them are going to be used as corp members. They need to show integrity; they need to be accountable, so that the results can count from the following units, and when these results count, of course, you know, people will have more confidence so as we’re telling them, we are expecting them also to take the message to wherever they are going now that the CVR registration process is over so that people can come out to collect your PVC.

“If you do not collect the PVC you will not be able to vote and registration has closed, now is the PVC collection stage. After the PVC collection, then, there can be turn out.”

Meanwhile, he also disclosed that the voter education campaign would be taken to all NYSC camps in the country.

Also speaking, the stand-up comedian, Chuks De General, said that he is duty-bound to use entertainment as a tool  for sensitizing young Nigerians to participate during the 2023 general elections, adding the youth have the numeric capacity of deciding who would emerge Nigeria’s President.

“We have come to a point where we realised entertainment became the best way to communicate to young people.

“So, when you come and say something on TV or radio and you didn’t mix it with some things they are used to, they may hear and understand, I respect that, but they may not get it exactly the way you wanted them to get it.

“So, Yiaga and I partnered on this project, to use entertainment to communicate the same communication that we have been trying to communicate before.

“We are just trying to assist INEC to communicate their message. The message for this particular episode is that we need everyone to go and pick up their PVCs.

“When it is time to vote, we need everyone to come out and vote”, he said.

He further states that, “I read the statistics of the last election, and I realised that we were  about 40 to 50 million youth who would preside over 200 million people.

“People are not coming out. I am praying for about 80 per cent but if 60 per cent of Nigerian youth come out to vote, the young people will have the ability to decide who will govern us.”

Vanguard News Nigeria