These days the focus on youth, in terms of their engagement in the political arena, is a relatively new priority but extremely timely, particularly considering recent events and democratic transitions.

People under the age of 35 are rarely found in formal political leadership positions. In the third world countries for instance, eligibility for the national parliament starts at 25 years or higher and it is common practice to refer to politicians as ‘young’ if they are below 35-40 years of age. A research once revealed that 1.65% of parliamentarians around the world are in their 20s and 11.87 % are in their 30s.

This percentage shows that Youth are not represented adequately in formal political institutions and processes such as Parliaments, political parties, elections, and public administrations. The situation is even more difficult for both young women as well as women at mid-level and decision-making/leadership positions.

Therefore, opportunities for youth to engage in governance and participate in political and decision-making processes depend largely on the political contexts where deliberate steps are taken to provide a conducive environment for their active participation.

This is in addition to the fact that, in recent times it has become a common knowledge to note that the youth can be a creative force, a dynamic source of innovations, who have undoubtedly, throughout history, participated, contributed, and even catalyzed important changes in political systems, power-sharing dynamics, and economic opportunities.

It is against this backdrop that in response to the needs of young people, and to guarantee by recognizing and enforcing their basic human rights, that the DVD Movement decided to open an enabling environment for young people’s active and meaningful participation in the aspiration of its principal, Nde David Victor Dimka fsi.

Since the movement came into being, there has been a steady growth in the mobilization of youth across Plateau State to buy into its philosophy and agenda.

Today in the 17 LGAs of the State, the Youth Network of the movement is building formidable structures to coordinate its membership drive which focus on the voting group whose future is largely dependent and determined by their right choices in the political processes of the State.

DVD Movement lays so much premium on this category of people such that they were one of the first groups to have been embraced by the leader of the Movement, Nde David Victor Dimka fsi. Since then, the momentum appears to be on the increase with the recent convention of the youth network held on November 27, 2021 in the office of the Movement at Rayfield, Jos.

Anchored on the key objective of providing a platform for the advancement, mobilization, and coordination of the good people of Plateau State to support the aspiration of the leader to become the next governor of the State in 2023, the youth selflessly mobilized themselves from the 17 LGAs and converged for the first time to discuss issues relating to the expansion and growth of the movement and other opportunities that are available for their age group within the movement.

One interesting thing to note about this convention was that the delegates paid their way to the meeting venue while one of them, Alhaji Uzairu from Bassa LGA printed 2000 T-Shirts and 2000 Caps to support the group.

To add to this clarion call, one of the most popular music maestro in Nigeria, Panshak Henry Zamani alias Ice Prince expressed his support to this movement. A very close friend of the late son of the Principal, Ice Prince disclosed this during a condolence visit recently.

“I must also key into the DVD Movement and bring my all to ensure victory come 2023. I am fully in the campaign and you will be seeing me lighting the trail”, he assured.

Again, barely one month after that historic meeting, another group of young ladies, Gyemat Campaign Team visited the principal in his office on Monday, December 13, 2021.

The group led by the 2019 winner of Ngas beauty pageant, Miss Limwadang Danladi Fwenji said that, after evaluating all the Ngas governorship aspirants, they were of the firm believe that DVD was the man of the people. “You offer us the best opportunity for victory at the polls and we are here today to express our support to your aspiration”, they added.

It is now obvious that the youth in Plateau State do not want to be left behind in this moment of collective drive towards ensuring that the best and most qualified candidate in the person of Nde David Victor Dimka becomes the next governor of Plateau State come 2023. They strongly believe that the opportunity for them to become future leaders is now as embedded in the philosophy of the DVD.

count | 15

DVD Youth Network: Building a Credible Support Group From Future Leaders – Boniface Kassam