Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has told Nigerian youths to abandon the comfort of social media debates and take physical control of their neighbourhoods, streets and polling units ahead of the 2027 general elections. Adebayo gave the charge on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, in Abuja while interacting with members of the SDP Young Professionals and the Confederation of West African Youths at the party's national secretariat.
The message was blunt and unmistakable. Politics, Adebayo said, is not an intellectual exercise or a contest of vocabulary. It is a ground game decided at the polling unit level, and any young person who wants to see a different Nigeria must be willing to do the hard work of engaging voters face to face. "Politics is done in the neighbourhoods. One hundred and sixty-six thousand eight hundred and seventy-four polling units. Any amount of command of English that you have that does not convince your neighbour about how they are going to vote…" he said, leaving the sentence unfinished because the implication was clear. "So we must go back to the streets and own it." He then delivered the line that has since dominated social media discourse: "Politics is not a game of the mouth. It's a game of the heart. Because the burden of politics is not easy. The love for your country and the vision of the future will be what will make you last long in politics."
Adebayo's intervention comes at a critical moment. The Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed the presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027. The SDP candidate is seeking the presidency on a platform that emphasises service, accountability and a break from the political establishment. But his message to the youths was not about his candidacy. It was about their responsibility. He argued that political influence means nothing if it does not translate into engagement with voters at the grassroots, and he challenged young professionals to use their education and exposure to persuade their neighbours rather than limit their political participation to elite circles and online arguments.
The SDP candidate also pointed to the role of young people in Nigeria's independence struggle, urging the current generation to draw inspiration from the West African students who mobilised around the demand for self-government. He said the SDP was seeking to promote a common political philosophy centred on the welfare principles contained in Chapter Two of the Nigerian Constitution, which outlines the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy. He described the country's challenges as man-made and therefore solvable, arguing that Nigeria has no natural barriers, no natural limitations and no natural enemies, and is surrounded by good neighbours who wish it well. The problem, he insisted, was leadership.
Adebayo lamented what he described as the absence of a deliberate system for training political leaders, comparing politics unfavourably with professional fields such as law, where practitioners undergo structured training before entering the profession. He described political parties as the "university" through which political leadership should be cultivated. He disclosed that he joined the SDP in 1991 at the age of 19 while studying law at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, and that his initial scepticism about political parties formed by the military changed after studying the SDP's foundational documents, including the report of the 1977 Constitutional Assembly. "Without unity of purpose, without coming together, you cannot achieve," he said. He also warned against political arrangements that exclude or disadvantage any section of the country on the basis of religion, ethnicity, gender or region.
The SDP National Chairman, Professor Abubakar Sadiq Gombe, also addressed the gathering, urging young professionals to take active interest in politics and contribute to efforts aimed at addressing the country's development challenges. Gombe said the group's visit demonstrated that young Nigerians still had hope in the country's future, and he described the involvement of young professionals as particularly important amid concerns over poverty, insecurity, unemployment and other socio-economic challenges. He urged the group to deepen political participation and support initiatives aimed at promoting competent and purposeful leadership.
The party's Vice-Presidential candidate, Professor Usman Bugaje, identified political will and leadership competence as the major issues affecting Nigeria's development. He cited the post-war development experiences of Japan, South Korea and Singapore as examples of countries that transformed their fortunes through purposeful leadership. "We represent the change that you are looking for, and what we are trying to do is to put this country on a different trajectory," Bugaje said.
Adebayo disclosed plans by the SDP to hold town hall meetings across the 36 states and local government areas as part of efforts to broaden the party's reach, and he urged the visiting youth leaders to mobilise non-voters across constituencies to help address voter apathy. The engagement came as political parties and candidates intensify mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections. For the SDP leadership, the immediate task is to turn youth interest in governance into sustained grassroots political participation. Adebayo's message was a call to action, but it was also a warning. Speeches in Abuja are easy. Owning a street is not. The 166,874 polling units across the country will not be won by hashtags, and the SDP candidate has made it clear that the youths who want a different Nigeria must be willing to do the work. Whether his words will translate into action is a question that only the coming months will answer.
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