In many democracies, election years typically prompt losing political parties to reflect on their shortcomings and reconsider their appeal to the electorate. These moments also offer opportunities for political parties to attune themselves to the prevailing public consciousness. However, the 2023 general election in Nigeria presents a distinct scenario. It appears to signal a deeper societal shift: a possible transcendence of entrenched emotional closures that have historically shaped the nation’s political behavior.
For the first time in Nigeria’s democratic history, especially among the youth, there are indications of a departure from entrenched ethnic, partisan, and institutional allegiances. Rather than aligning strictly along traditional lines, many voters seem to be evaluating candidates based on individual character and perceived competence, marking a significant evolution in civic consciousness.
Considering Nigeria’s historical trajectory- from independence in 1960 to the devastating civil war barely a decade later- one observes a pattern of emotional withdrawal among large segments of the youth. This withdrawal, shaped by trauma and sociocultural isolation, has often resulted in a form of emotional closure, where individuals are less open to influences or meanings that extend beyond their immediate cultural context. This latent trauma, while often undetected, has contributed to a dysfunctional sense of citizenship and a limited capacity for collective identification.
The emergence of the Nigerian state lacked a parallel process of individual psychological development. Consequently, national identity often remains subordinated to affiliations rooted in clan, culture, religion, language, or ethnicity. This underdeveloped sense of individuality and the resulting weak patriotic identification provide fertile ground for divisive politics, which continue to draw emotional energy from these closures.
According to South African holistic philosopher Claudius Van Wyk, emotion is “energy seeking purpose.” In its search, emotion guides attention toward coherence and connection, often illuminating what lies beyond immediate experience. Emotional responses signal a deeper, often unconscious, need for meaning making and adaptability. When emotional engagement lacks intentionality or reflection, it can undermine the complex adaptive capacities inherent in human nature. Individuals, when trapped in emotion-driven values without deeper introspection, risk reinforcing the very problems they seek to overcome. In such cases, emotion ceases to guide awareness and instead fixates attention on surface-level experiences, reinforcing parochialism.
In the Nigerian context, this emotional fixation has long served the interests of identity-based and divisive political strategies. Yet, emotional engagement is not impermeable. Emotional values, while often closed, remain relatively open to broader environmental influences. Social and technological developments- particularly the proliferation of smartphones and digital connectivity- have exposed individuals to realities beyond their immediate environments, gradually weakening longstanding closures.
This phenomenon aligns with evolutionary theory, which posits that differentiation, selection, and amplification drive both human experience and environmental complexity.
As Ilya Prigogine, Nobel laureate in chemistry, observed, “entropy is the price of structure”. Human beings grow in proportion to the pain they can endure and transform. It appears Nigeria’s youthful population, in this regard, is undergoing a form of emotional integration catalyzed by shared frustration. This integration is expressed in what can be termed the organic link between the consciousness of citizenship and the legitimacy of political regimes.
The question remains: will Nigerians, particularly the youth, transcend emotional closures in the upcoming election? The answer is uncertain. Yet, as Mahatma Gandhi asserted:“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory”- affirming that the value of an endeavor lies not merely in its outcome, but in the commitment it inspires. The ongoing political awakening among young Nigerians, though fragile and evolving, signals a form of social learning. This learning fosters both individual and collective awareness, enabling healthier expressions of civic values.
Despite their differences, Nigerians share a common human experience. Human beings possess the capacity to reinterpret survival, to adapt, and to evolve. According to Jonas Salk: “Evolution favors the survival of the wisest”- meaning that evolution favors life-affirming responses over counterproductive ones- though such shifts often emerge through painful periods of transformation. Albert Einstein aptly noted that a new kind of thinking is essential if humanity is to advance. Any fundamental transformation in Nigeria must begin with a corresponding shift in mindset.
That shift may already be underway. For the first time, emotional allegiance appears to be softening, and individual awareness appears to be rising from a collective slumber. The dynamic coherence of shared national experience appear to be cultivating a new civic orientation. Ironically, political figures who have not relied on emotional or divisive rhetoric are now emerging as the primary beneficiaries of a unifying movement shaped by the public’s emotional awakening. Whether this will ultimately shift the trajectory of political perception and leadership in Nigeria remains an open question.
This transformation, though tentative, holds the potential to reshape Nigeria’s political landscape. It is not the absence of emotionality, but the redirection of emotional energy toward coherence, solidarity, and conscious participation that may mark the beginning of a more unified national future.
References
Evans, G. A. (Ed.). (2019). Systemist (Vol. 40, No. 1). UK Systems Society. Retrieved from https://www.systemsforum.org/download/systemist/Systemist-Volume-40-1-June-2019.pdf
Salk, J. (1983). Anatomy of Reality: Merging of Intuition and Reason. Columbia University Press
Gandhi, M. K. (2001). The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas (L. Fischer, Ed.). Vintage Books.
Prigogine, I., & Stengers, I. (1984). Order out of chaos: Man’s new dialogue with nature. Bantam Books.
Einstein, A. (1946, May 25). Atomic education urged by Einstein. The New York Times.
Kenneth Obiakor
