YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN DEMOCRATIZATION AND GOVERNANCE PROCESSES IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECT

This study examines the challenges and Prospects of Youth Participation in the Democratization and Governance Processes in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Using secondary sources and Liberal democratic theory as a framework of analysis. It has been discovered that despite various international communiqués to ensure increased participation of the vulnerable segments of the society in their national political process, Nigeria is still ranked among those countries with low Youth Participation as a result of corruption, monetization of Nigerian politics, the incessant discrediting of the youth by the elders. The finding also reveals youth have been used as political thugs in the electoral process by the political class. The study concludes youth participation in democracy and governance is critical but largely depends on the quality of the population of the youth. The study recommends that government should be coupled with a commitment to building long-term civic institutions that give youth a means of engaging political systems and actors beyond Elections