Gender Gap in Youth Participation Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

Electoral participation continues to be an issue of critical importance in Africa. Huntington’s third wave of democracy is mostly made up  of African countries that had achieved their independence and were ready to foster a new beginning. Worrying, however, is the  backsliding of democracy on the continent. Many nations have experienced coups and the overthrow of governments, such as Burkina  Faso, Mali, and Guinea. In addition, The Gambia, GuineaBissau, and Sao Tome and Principe have all witnessed failed coup attempts.  However, countries like Nigeria, Zambia, and South Africa have been able to conduct elections that have largely been free and fair. Recent  developments with democracy and participation on the continent necessitate scholarly contributions that can shed light on the  performance of democracy in Africa, emerging trends, and possible democratic reforms, in order to further consolidate democracy on  the continent. Based on these contextual factors, this article addresses an extremely important issue of political participation for both  Nigeria and other African democracies, i.e. political participation. Despite its significance to the stability and sustainable development of  Nigeria, with over 75 per cent of the population being youth, studies on the gender gap in political participation by the Nigerian youth are  rare in the literature. This study was conducted among Nigerian university students a few days before the 2023 presidential election,  to assess the level of political participation and the gender gap in terms of participation. The study adopted a quantitative research  design using the survey method. Four hundred and fifty-seven students (45.3 per cent females) participated in the survey. The study  results showed that a gender gap exists in terms of traditional political participation by students, social media political engagement, and  willingness to vote. However, there is no gender gap in terms of interpersonal political talk and online information-seeking. The study  concludes that a gender gap exists in terms of some types of political participation by Nigerian youth, although not in terms of all forms  of participation.