Rukayat Shittu has just emerged the youngest person elected as a lawmaker in Nigeria. Contesting on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), she scored 7,521 votes to win a seat at the Kwara State Assembly, defeating her closest rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, who scored 6,957 votes.
At 27, the odds were stacked against Rukayat Shittu right from the moment she coughed out the N500,000 fee for the Expression of Interest Form to contest for Owode/Onire Constituency in the Kwara State House of Assembly under the APC. It was money she reportedly raised from family, friends and well-wishers. Money was not her only challenge; as a woman and a young person, the space and opportunity to participate in politics were limited and could have been unsupported by law had the National Assembly not passed the Not Too Young To Run Bill which President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law back in 2018.
Her victory at the polls cannot be separated from the journey started by civil society organisations (CSOs) who lobbied and promoted the bill at the National Assembly to reduce the age barrier in the constitution for young people seeking to participate in politics. From the stories she has told, Shittu also went up against a political trend that had effectively frozen out her village, Manyan, in the Onire District of Kwara State from active political representation at the local, state or even federal level. No one from the village has ever represented the constituency politically.
The amendment to the constitution would eventually see the age requirement a citizen must reach before contesting for a seat in the House of Representatives or State House of Assembly reduced from 30 to 25 years. The amendment also reduced the age limit for the seats of governor from 35 to 30, and that of president from 40 to 35 years. The only state assemblies that did not back the amendment were Lagos, Kano and Zamfara. Curiously, two years after the bill was signed into law, Lagos would become the centre of mass protest and disenchantment by young people against police brutality. The impact of the 2020 EndSARS protests have been felt in the 2023 general elections with the phenomenal increase in the participation of young people in politics, both as contestants and as voters.
Today, Rukayat Shittu represents the fruits of the labour of all those that fought to make the Not Too Young To Run bill a reality. Her victory at the polls also serves as an inspiration to the thousands of young Nigerians who took to the streets during the EndSARS protests to demand change. But more than anything, the victory is an individual triumph for Rukayat Shittu.
In securing the ticket of the APC, she had to endure political violence after thugs disrupted the party primary that was initially held to elect a flag bearer for the party. Not having the deep pockets of her opponents, or a political godfather, Shittu to fight to retain the ticket; she eventually won in a battle that ended in the Court of Appeal. And as can easily be imagined, the biggest battle of all was on Election Day when thuggery, vote buying and snatching of ballot boxes were rife.
Rukayat Shittu did not just wake up one day and joined the political contest. She always had political interest since her undergraduate days and was keen to promote women’s participation in politics.
Shittu studied at Baptist LGA Primary School, Government Day Secondary School in Oku-Ire in Ilorin, and Kwara State College of Islamic and Legal Studies where she obtained a diploma in Mass Communication and Islamic Studies. She later went to the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) where she studied Mass Communication.
A month before the election, Shittu said in an interview: “I want the future to speak for me and point at me as a role model for youths. I believe my candidature will encourage and pave the way for more young people who are willing to participate in the electoral contests.”
As a newspaper, we salute her courage and congratulate her on her hard-fought victory. And now that she is in a position to inspire more young people after walking through the minefield called politics in Nigeria, we encourage her to make the best use of the opportunity.
