Ways of fighting political apathy in Nigeria
It is a position of a person or social group characterized by indifference to political life and sometimes can be considered as deviant behavior. The reasons of this phenomenon may be different: from belief in rigging of elections to distrust of the politicians. The political apathy is also widespread in Nigeria and it has a number of negative consequences. Find out ways of fighting political apathy below.
Political apathy meaning
Political apathy (in other words, absenteeism) means a phenomenon when citizens shirk a participation in elections, or in broad sense, political behavior characterized by inaction.
This phenomenon is a very common phenomenon countries where citizens consider themselves powerless. They think they can’t decide anything in their country. Nigeria is not an exception. The political apathy in Nigeria is expressed in different ways. On the one hand, such position is understandable because people were disappointed in politics more than once. And this is a problem not only of Nigeria but all over the world.
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We think it is fair to say that this political apathy has a negative impact on Nigeria rather than positive. This is bad for economy, government and society in general. There are several reasons why we should search for ways of fighting political apathy:
- this phenomenon is the reason of bad government;
- emergence of unconscientious politicians who will declare themselves the leaders;
- it also may be the reason of insufficient communication between citizens and government;
- denial of political education and information and so on.
Many political analysts say that political apathy may lead such political problems as corruption and other unfair actions of politicians. In any case, such position leads Nigeria nowhere.
5 ways of fighting political apathy
How can we fight apathy of our citizens and change a mood in society? Whether is it possible? The political analysts assure that it’s entirely possible. There are five main ways to fight this phenomenon:
- Participations in elections: learning of biographies and political activity of candidates.
- Learning and defending people’s rights.
- Join to Nigerian political parties or organizations such as Nigeria Labor Congress.
- Development of political culture and interest.
- Motivation of the people to improve their lives that depend on political situation in the country.
No wonder that participation in elections was compulsory in the old days. Today, some countries made it compulsory for all who’ve reached the age of majority.
Nigeria suffers from political apathy from young and poor people and minority groups. However, exactly these categories of people should be politically active. The participations in political life of our country has a direct impact on standard of living.
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Source: Legit.ng
