Nasser Fellowship for International Leadership; a bridge to Youth Apathy in Africa

By Frida Frans, Namibia

Nasser fellow batch 3

Looking across Africa, the trending norm nowadays is that youth are not interested in political participation. Having asked my peers, some of them said that they are not interested because they have been failed several times by politicians. However, few of them do participate in elections and democratic process of their nations. In some countries, the rate of political apathy among youth is so high that there is a large gap between the countries administrative officials and the youth.

Blame games are the orders of the day. Youth blame the elderly and those in power for unfulfilled promises and on the other hand, the elders blame the youth for being wayward and disrespectful. All these blame games are however not necessary in a time when the democracy of Africa is at stake and need to be revitalized with young people. The truth of the matter is that the next generation of democratic leadership in Africa plays a crucial role in sustaining and advancing democracy.

The Nasser Fellowship is doing quite well by bridging the gap between seasoned leaders and emerging leaders by facilitating intergeneration dialogues and exchange of ideas and experiences. This example thus need to be replicated at national levels and it all lies in the hands of young people. I believe that Young people need to dive deep into governance issues to understand the progress made and where they can contribute to best build their nations instead of excluding themselves or dwelling in blame games. 

Youth therefore need to stand up and get engaged in the democratic process of their nations through participation. We participate in various activities in our dialy life, in national building, participation is a duty too. I would like to conclude with words of appreciations to the youth who despite all the challenges to their participation, has taken it upon themselves to engage through civil society organizations, political parties, government institutions, community meetings, student unions or clubs as well as individual efforts. Be active, get involved to build to the Africa we want!

Opinions expressed here are that of the author and does not represent any organization.