It is a position of a person or social group
characterized by indifference to political
life and sometimes can be considered as
deviant behavior. The reasons of this
phenomenon may be different: from belief
in rigging of elections to distrust of the
politicians. The political apathy is also
widespread in Nigeria and it has a number
of negative consequences. Find out ways of
fighting
Political apathy meaning
Political apathy (in other words,
absenteeism) means a phenomenon
when citizens shirk a participation in
elections, or in broad sense, political
behavior characterized by inaction.
This phenomenon is a very common
phenomenon countries where citizens
consider themselves powerless. They
think they can’t decide anything in
their country. Nigeria is not an
exception. The political apathy in
Nigeria is expressed in different ways.
On the one hand, such position is
understandable because people were
disappointed in politics more than once.
And this is a problem not only of
Nigeria but all over the world.
We think it is fair to say that this
political apathy has a negative impact
on Nigeria rather than positive. This is
bad for economy, government and
society in general. There are several
reasons why we should search for ways
of fighting political apathy:
this phenomenon is the reason of bad
government;
emergence of unconscientious
politicians who will declare
themselves the leaders;
it also may be the reason of
insufficient communication between
citizens and government;
denial of political education and
information and so on.
Many political analysts say that political
apathy may lead such political problems
as corruption and other unfair actions
of politicians. In any case, such position
leads Nigeria nowhere.
5 ways of fighting political apathy
How can we fight apathy of our citizens
and change a mood in society? Whether
is it possible? The political analysts
assure that it’s entirely possible. There
are five main ways to fight this
phenomenon:
1. Participations in elections: learning
of biographies and political activity
of candidates.
2. Learning and defending people’s
rights.
3. Join to Nigerian political parties or
organizations such as Nigeria Labor
Congress.
4. Development of political culture and
interest.
5. Motivation of the people to improve
their lives that depend on political
situation in the country.
No wonder that participation in
elections was compulsory in the old
days. Today, some countries made it
compulsory for all who’ve reached the
age of majority.
Nigeria suffers from political apathy
from young and poor people and
minority groups. However, exactly these
categories of people should be politically
active. The participations in political
life of our country has a direct impact
on standard of living.
