ukraine's brave hearts? witness on al jazeera. >> who will be nigeria's next leader? photos of africa's most populous country are about to -- voters are about to elect a new president at a national simile. what is at play this time around and is tomorrow chrissy -- democracy strengthening in nigeria? this is inside story. ♪ >> hello and welcome to the program. i'm mark matheson. on saturday voters in nigeria go

to the polls to elect the president but africans largest democracy and its biggest economy have been suffering more violence as the ballot approaches. several police officers of been killed in the last few days in attacks by suspected rebels in the southeast. a senate candidate from the opposition labour party was shot dead late on wednesday by unknown assailants in south eastern state. with nigeria's debt rising and taxes failing to raise enough cash, the successor will face tough financial constraints. 18 candidates are on the ballot of four of them are getting the most attention because of their chances to win or force themselves into a runoff election. we report. >> peter gregory, a former governor of the state is the youngest of the front rumors -- runners. his campaign a message seems to run with young supporters who say they are tired of the politics of it all. >> we want to see someone unite

nigeria. we want to transform nigeria from its present to a productive country. >> a successful businessman, he broke away from the party that made him governor and chose a running mate to lead the labour party's presidential campaign. it's a shift from the major parties to one that does not control any legislature or state. the candidate is a former defense minister and was governor of nigeria's second most populous state for eight years. >> the election now is between the big names who have destroyed this country and people who are looking for an alternative. >> the election is not business as usual. the new contenders supporters

believe they can unseat the governing party just like in 2015 when the opposition won. they can only divert votes from the main clinical parties. they expected to to force a runoff and with negotiations win or even decide to becomes president. ♪ >> this is the manner nigeria's opposition is try to stop. a former governor of nigeria's business capital he is credited with transforming the state and restructuring the economy. the governing party flag bearer says he wants to replicate this at the national level. >> security, economy, foreign policy is secondary. build a relationship. given the other countries, believing in contracts. >> both are making the most of

the belief that the presidency should held -- head south doctoring held by a northerner for years. supporters of the former vice president say nigeria's democracy must not be defined by regional sentiments. a retired customs officer, they are a successful businessman with interests in manufacturing and the service industries. he was not available for interview. >> all the political parties are similar but there are at least new contenders for the presidency, which in itself could make politicians in africa's most populous country accountable to their voters. al jazeera. ♪ >> ok let's talk to our guests. joining me as a clinical analyst and broadcaster who heads africa news. hoss on as a special assistant on stable developing goals --hassan is a special assistant

to stable develop goals. there are 93 .5 million registered voters in it nigeria. are voters actually enthusiastic about these elections? >> thank you for having me on the show. absolutely nigerians are ready. they are looking forward to february. they are much awaiting to cast their votes, thinking that we can have a new government in nigeria. anything that has to do with elections and having a new leadership, they are ready and they are -- >> you are a special advisor. he has been part of the nigerian clinical process for many years. given the fact that nigerians

are looking for change, is he in a position to be able to do that, given the fact that some people might say that he is part of the problem rather than the solution? >> looking at what is happening, nigeria is ready for a change of the situation that we found ourselves in this country. and the state of great depression that we have found ourselves. you know, you can attribute it to the last eight years. the policies that have helped no one. for instance, closing the border and incapacitating so many young people from doing business. and there are many policies that this government has introduced that has eradicated at middle class. so what we now have is the rich and the poor, the rich versus the poor, the rich and the poor in the country. so people are clamoring for the change of their situation.

not necessarily a change in fate, because if you look at the contestants who are contestants to become president, they have been around for a while. they have held different positions in different capacities. but also nigerians, especially young nigerians and also older nigerians, pay are looking at someone who has been there and has done that before. and look at the facts. look at his excellency, the vice president of the country, he was head of the economic team. and the war that nigeria has experienced at that time. nigerians want that. at this moment, we've also got to be understanding that the problems in nigeria are so deep-rooted that you cannot solve it in a day. and as such this is why his excellency needs person who can

do the job at this moment. >> i'm glad to say we can bring in ali, national spokesperson for the campaign, the progressives. on behalf of all of us, think you for being with us. the candidates is set to carry a lot of influence in the southwest, but he is 70 years old. how much do you think he can relate to young people in it nigeria? >> i mean, when we think of it, he is a man of innovation. he is very close to all of the local happenings in our country. he is a man introducing a vision and a love during his years, so he is in touch. if you were to have people --

look at his track record. he taught young, old, people from different diverse backgrounds. he is very in touch with reality and in touch with different demographics. >> cassie, we're talking about a country which has been for many years wracked by violence. if economy is struggling. we heard hassan say people are looking for a continuation of the same. are people really wanting more of the same economic struggle that they have perhaps seen in the past? 40% of people are under 34 and underemployed. >> well, the situation is like that, but i must say that the current administration have really tried its best from the look of things, we all know that

when comes to leadership, all you can do is try your best. witnessing the fact that there are a lot of things that governments can do. the best thing that can happen to nigerians is to have a great governance, but so far so good. i must say it is not a bad situation still, because when you look at the whole thing, i always appreciate when we look at things from another perspective. we can conclude that we've been waiting. nigerians would be happy to have the kind of government that will

bring challenges. i believe if the way things are now, if government can get money one way or another. like the policies that the conflict is try to bring to the people, they can still manage to work around it. but it's not a bad situation. nigerians would be happy to have it good. >> let me ask about the role of peter, who is of the pdp but is now of the labour party. he seems to be collecting social media support. he seems to be getting a lot of support from young people. how do you see his role and indeed that of kwakwaso, who is a presidential candidate? is there a chance that one of them given that people are looking for change of party, is

there a chance that one of them could actually become president of the country and start with a clean slate or are they going to serve the vote and fragment the votes of the other candidates. >> for the two, from their root sides, they will try their own best and from the looks of things, they have a whole lot of people looking, they are in darkness at the top level. the situation is somehow difficult if you look at the -- that we have. the life of boboka, they are

guys that we can call super weights. they have weights when it comes to politics. it is momentous, but the truth remains these guys are so strong from both sides looking at their running mates as well. it's -- he is a strong guy and that tells you looking back he is strong as well. and people within certain areas, meaning let's say parts of the northern side and western nigeria, they might want to keep it kind of vote for him. but i see it's more of -- it is

going to be difficult. but politics can come out any way. it might be mixed for them. >> i will ask you about bola, his slogan translates into my term. how tough is it going to be for him to convince people that he should get the job just because he says he should? >> ok, it is not really tough. what i understand, that is been taken out of context and blown out of proportion. i mean he at the time was talking to his party delegates, whom he has risen according to his investment to people. his investment in politics and democracy including democratic principles. and for others what he said was

the support he is giving to others. it's not really about that. it's about his track record. it's not that candidates running, who has contributed more in the fight for democracy and progressive governments. like i mean it is known he has a tapped uil 1989 when he became governor. he turned around the economy. but one of the states in nigeria grew to the fifth economy and africa and there's been steady growth since then. there has been consistent economy growth. as many as 25 million nigerians moving from different parts of the country.

it is one state where everyone can live freely and live and go about their business. >> obviously, you were reacting to what ali was saying. but i want to make a point that the candidate has lost the race for the presidency five times already. and yet, he still seems to think that he's going to be able to do it this time. what is different this time to the previous times? >> what is different this time as he is the person needed for the job and he's not the first person to contest elections. it was contested four times before he he contested. consistency is a good thing. but when he talks about his

candidate, you know, i was in law school and secondary school in lagos, so i have lived there. i have a right to speak about it. it has been a state capital. it is strategically positioned in the way that it has ports and it has had so many opportunities to grow. as i speak to you right now, it is one of the worst places to live in and also the security is not as free as they want you to believe. and also look at the talks. look at this company and what they want to speak about. his excellency, i feel like it

is going to be fair to say this to the international media and not just talk to the things he has achieved with all of the opportunities given. strategically positioned, there is room for it to be better than it is, because it is below average at best. >> thank you very much. i want to get away from the campaigning element of this. i want to talk about the state of democracy that there is in nigeria. we are talking about a situation which is unusual in nigeria in that none of the candidates is already an incumbent president and none of them appears to be a former military leader. what difference do you think that is going to make to the state of democracy within nigeria? >> yes, i think that is a positive story i must say for nigeria. it's great news.

major politicians, you know? a moment from now, it is a good story for us because it signals a message that nigeria has really, really come to the democratic perch that we talked about. we believe that the military is a kind of aberration. these guys, these politicians, businessmen, technocrats coming into proper governance, it is a positive story for us and nigerians will be happy for that. that is why will be looking forward to having one of them always coming from a different background in the current

president -- than the current president. even though the current president was a retired soldier, he has done what he can, but it would be great if we could bring these interviewers that can say ok, from our own business background, from our background, the military, we want to try to reunite nigeria so nigerians will be looking forward to them as a president. >> i wanted to ask you as your role as part of the apc birth group. you are focusing on the younger element, what are you trying to achieve with that? >> ok, apc was funded as a condition of the political

parties at the time. when we got into power there has been a bit of challenges trying to raise our ideology as a progressive party. we acknowledge that we have some different backgrounds so we seem to be our core ideology. and the young people in the country, we have the likes of them to look up to. a democrat and progressive leader. it is right to hold leaders of any party accountable and make sure we abide by our moral constitution, our own guidelines, provide a level playing field for every member of the party and for all of the m. successfully, we are able to

push forward to conditions and one of them led the national committee. >> forgive me for interrupting you but i want to pick up on the point that everyone appears to be making, which is that young people, the votes of young people are going to be key in this. this is something that is absolutely crucial to whether or not people succeed in this election. and obviously, you are representative of that. i know hassan you are a representative of that as well. let me ask you this, given the fact that he is 70 years old, if he becomes president, what are the chances do you think that he is actually, no matter how progressive the things is going to be, what are the chances that exactly going to be open to young people within his party try to change things? >> he is surrounded by young people. the bulk of people do the groundwork for him. they are young people. and he has promised in his manifesto, the renewed hope.

he has promised to have cabinet positions for people between the age of 18 and 49 and i mean he talked about getting young people involved in leadership in the party level and the government level. we are very confident that he will do this because when he was coming up, he brought a lot of young people close and mentor them. most of them are national leaders now. >> let me ask you about the settlement of young people. because the reception that i've been doing seems -- the research and have been doing says young people are going to make this happen in terms of lower turnout, but they are predominantly younger voters for certain candidates, they are going to benefit from that. how significant in this particular election do you think is the vote of young people in the first instance? >> well, from the look of

things, the young people are coming back. it is gaining serious momentum when it comes to the young people thinking that they need to do it right this time and give nigeria a great president. so they are more in front, they are ready, and this time around their vote definitely counts. you can see from the look of things, having these because playing a role from both parties, it goes a long way. unlike before. they might tell them go and do something. they are now playing a vital role. you can seeing organizations competing for candidates.

so it is a different ballgame. the younger ones are now looking at let's take the bull by the horns and they are working -- they are not joking this time around. i can see from the look of things, they are super ready to bring that change that they are looking for. so it will be significant this time around. >> i want to ask you about the participation of women. how much of an impact or the votes of women going to have in this election -- are the votes of women going to have in the selection? >> women are becoming more involved in elections in nigeria and that is thanks to gender equality and the work that ngos and national ngos have been doing, to stress the importance of getting involved. and also women have been

involved in politics despite the challenges, it's the only way to get heard in this democratic setting that we have found ourselves. so participation in politics by women is great, but when it comes to women elected leaders, that is where the problem is. at the same time we keep on seeing that less and less women contest for elected positions. and that is worrisome and i think it just goes back to speak to the difficult role that women find themselves in in politics. >> just very briefly, we only have a few seconds left, let me ask you, given everything you were saying about the way this election has been campaign for and what nigeria has been through over the past few years do you think you're going to see a different nigeria very briefly if you could? >> absolutely, things will get better.

we are very optimistic. i am optimistic nigeria will be a great country because that is what people are looking for a. we are facing some challenges. vote for the right candidates that can get us to a level like ours. nigerians would be better for it in the next time, a few years, six months, a year more and let's say that -- >> thank you very much, i apologize for interrupting you unfortunately, of course. time is against us, but thank you very much indeed. and thanks to you and thanks to our other two guests, and thank you to you to for watching. you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al jazeera.com. for further discussion go to our

facebook page, that is facebook.com/a.j. inside story. you can join the conversation on twitter. our handle is at a.j. inside story. from the whole team here, goodbye for now. ♪

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