Let’s face it — every election season in Nigeria feels like a war with no declared winner. You can almost hear the whisper of gunshots before the campaign jingles fade. The real tragedy? It’s not the politicians who bleed; it’s the youth they’ve armed, used, and discarded like spent bullet shells.
According to data from SBM Intelligence, over 2,500 election-related violent incidents were recorded across Nigeria between 2019 and 2023. That’s not just a statistic — that’s a mirror reflecting the faces of young men who traded their future for a politician’s handshake and a brown envelope.
And here’s the dark truth: when the ballot boxes are sealed and victory songs fill the air, the weapons remain. The same cutlasses, pistols, and pump-action rifles that were used to intimidate voters during the election are now turned on the streets — against innocent traders, commuters, and even the same communities these boys once vowed to protect.
Last week, I spoke with a young man from Onitsha who once worked as a “bodyguard” for a campaign team. After the elections, his boss switched off his phone and disappeared. “Oga, I still get my gun,” he told me with eyes that carried both pride and pain. “If nobody wan employ me, na the gun go feed me.”
That line haunts me. Na the gun go feed me. That’s how we breed insecurity — not from the forests, but from our own polling units.
The cycle is vicious. Political thugs become cultists. Cultists become armed robbers. Armed robbers become kidnappers. And soon, everyone lives in fear — including the very politicians who financed their rise.
The irony? The same political elite who handed them weapons now call for “community policing” and “state security outfits.” They sow chaos, then campaign on the promise to end it. It’s like the arsonist applying for the job of a fireman.
But here’s the bitter pill — until we stop turning poverty into a political weapon, this circle of blood will not break. The young men at the center of this tragedy are not demons; they are victims of a failed system that values loyalty over livelihood.
Our message must be clear: empowerment, not enlistment.
Train them, don’t arm them.
Employ them, don’t exploit them.
Respect their strength, don’t weaponize it.
Every election season must not end with new graves and new gangs. If politics keeps destroying our youth, then we must redefine what leadership means.
Because one day — and that day is coming — these same abandoned boys will no longer wait for politicians to give them orders.
They’ll give the orders themselves.
And when that day comes, even power will tremble.
Linus Anagboso.
#D-BIGPEN
— Inspiring Impact Through Words & Innovation.
