How Gen Zs and Millennials shaped the 2023 elections

This election saw the younger generation at the forefront of its issues and they canvassed for their candidate so passionately thereby creating a third force in a typical two ruling party structure.

According to Worldometer, Nigeria has the largest youth population in the world, with a median age of 18.1 years. 70% of Nigerians are under 30, and 42% are under the age of 15.

Perhaps this passion is because most of them are now in their 20s and 30s and are saddled with the realities of living in Nigeria. A life that involves getting a job, a house, getting married and starting a family.

They face struggles every day and want better for themselves and their families, and seeing a candidate that inspired them was just what they needed. 

Social media was such a pivotal tool, especially for those who underrated it - such a fatal mistake, seeing how the End Sars movement started. The youths used social media to mobilise, inform and group themselves.

The days leading to the election, all those irrelevant but evergreen relationships and boy vs girl topics were brought to a swift halt. On election day and while the votes were collated, Nigerian youths used social media to talk exclusively about politics. No one wanted to hear about anything else.

Do you remember a time when young people didn’t care about the news? That was when their parents were still footing their bills, but now they watch news channels intently and refuse to change them. They have a deep curiosity about what’s going on. This year's Big Brother show was the least-watched from indications on social media, people just don't care.

Perhaps one of the most important civic duties is voting, and many young people did that. They spent hours getting their PVC picture captured, hours queuing to get their PVC and went out to vote and some waited until the results were counted.

Religious leaders, celebrities and even their friends were cut off if they didn’t support their preferred candidates. They took it way too personally.

We still saw some pre-election and election day TikToks and Vlogs, very uncharacteristic of Gen Zs.

In the aftermath of the elections, though some have been left disappointed, it has still awakened some sort of national consciousness and nationalism that won’t die out for a long time.