A fresh face for the biggest, youngest generation

One year ago, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, 75, signed the “Not Too Young To Run” bill, lowering the minimum age requirement to run for governorship or presidency. Now, with less than a year until the presidential election, Buhari faces a younger generation of candidates ready to take office – including one who shares his name.

At 40, Ahmed Buhari is one of the youngest candidates running for president in 2019.

A former geologist turned entrepreneur, the younger Buhari says his purpose for running is to provide a fresh perspective for a stagnant nation with more than half its population under the age of 30.

“The biggest problems Nigeria faces, apart from all the corruption or insecurity, the biggest problem is that we don’t get involved,” he said. “We’re very used to sitting down on the side and complaining about all that’s not working right. So, I decided that I was going to stop standing on the sidelines … and that is when I got involved and I decided that I was going to run for office of the president of this country.”

For Buhari, creating a better Nigeria starts with changing the atmosphere of insecurity and discontent and bringing together a nation that is being divided by ethnicity, religion, gender, age, social status and political ideologies.

“What I believe can help us put this country together moving forward is to ensure that we have a united front,” said Buhari.

“There’s no ‘Nigerian Dream’ so to speak. And until we’re able to find a ‘Nigerian Dream’ we can’t find a country, we can’t find a nation. Right now, we’re just a population, we’re not a people.”

Buhari says that although his campaign has gained more traction than anyone originally expected, there are still plenty of challenges for him and the other young candidates.

“There are a lot of challenges that we face right now as young people running, especially around changing the mindsets of the electorate that we’re trying to convince to support us,” said Buhari. “Because they believe that we haven’t got experience.

“We keep trying to help people understand that experience is good, it’s needed, but it’s also very clear to understand that experience is actually the enemy of innovation.”

All in all, Buhari says the most important thing isn’t age, but is for the country to really get involved in the process.

“Age is not a function of good leadership,” he said. “The fact that you’re young or old doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to give good leadership. So, it’s important for us to actually engage with the candidates and be sure that they have exactly what we want from them.”

Photos courtesy of Ahmed Buhari.