PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s government deserves commendation for granting university students a three-week break to enable them to go home and vote in the 2023 general elections.

Last week, the good news came that the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, had instructed university vice chancellors to send their students home for the polls. This was a positive response to the calls for the three million or so university students to be given the opportunity to participate in choosing our next group of leaders at all levels between February 25 and March 11, 2023.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, added his voice to this clamour when he met with the European Union Election Observation Mission, EU-EOM, in Abuja recently. The call was necessary because students were at home due to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU’s, strike when the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, timetable for Permanent Voter’s Card, PVC, registration was on.

The prospective first-time voters among them were unable to collect their PVCs because they were still in school when INEC delivered the cards. Even those who had collected theirs would not have been able to vote unless they registered at school.

This is a patriotic gesture. It is a decision that did not pander to selfish partisan interests. If one vote can make a difference in an election, what more can be said for three million or so votes?

The youth have, for the first time since 1999, thrown their hats into the ring. They are determined to play a leading role in choosing the leaders they feel will give them and the rest of the populace a brighter future. The youth, which had hitherto been blamed for making themselves available to be used and dumped by the political class as ballot snatchers, thugs and purveyors of violence, have woken up to the fact that they can make a difference.

According to INEC data, 37 million (39.65 per cent) of the 93.5 million registered voters for the 2023 election are between the ages of 18 and 34. In this category, youth are leading the charge in the 2023 elections. University students form a strong vanguard of this group. Keeping them away from the polls for no fault of theirs would have been greatly unjust. The Federal Government’s decision to send the students home to vote will underscore the importance it attaches to the need for an inclusive election.

However, we call on INEC to allow the returning students one week to collect their PVCs. The whole of this week will do. INEC will still have one week until the presidential election. What use can the election break be if students who came home are still unable to vote?