Tag: Lagos

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)Many called Chike Ukaegbu's bluff when he announced he was running for the highest office in Nigeria at the age of 35. Politics in Nigeria was closed to younger candidates up until the Not Too Young To Run bill -- championed by a youth movement -- succeeded last year in lowering the ages for elected offices. President Muhammadu Buhari first ruled Nigeria in 1983 as a military head of state. Only candidates with deep pockets and wealth amassed from the nation's resources have emerged victorious in past elections, Raphael said, shutting out younger aspirants and newcomers without a "war chest" to finance their campaigns. Despite its young population, Africa has been under the grip of older leaders, widening the gap and disconnect between the leadership and the electorate. Cameroon's 85-year-old president Paul Biya was elected for a seventh term last October, extending his 36-year rule in the country. "By the time we get to the election... we will have many Ugandans registered as voters," Wine said. The 37-year-old says nothing will change if young people remain apathetic and abstain from the polls and politics. None of these men are by definition youthful candidates, but they are newcomers and some decades younger than the frontrunners. Now, we have old leaders ruling a digital population."