In the villages of Boki, politics is not only heard on campaign stages. It is discussed under trees, along farm roads, in small community gatherings and wherever the people meet to talk about the future of their communities.
It is in this grassroots political space that the name of Nandi Jeremiah Odu, the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate for Boki II State Constituency, is beginning to attract attention as one of the younger faces seeking a seat in the Cross River State House of Assembly.
For a place like Boki, where politics is often measured by how close a person is to the people and not simply by how many posters are on the road, the emergence of a young candidate is already becoming part of the conversation.
Nandi is from Katchuan Irruan in Buda Ward, Boki II, and his entry into the race comes with a message of generational change. He is coming from the private sector, with experience in entrepreneurship, management, construction, equipment supplies and fashion, rather than from a long history of occupying political office.
That background has become one of the talking points around his candidacy.
In the villages and communities of Boki II, where young people are looking for opportunities to survive, build businesses and remain useful to their communities, Nandi's emphasis on youth participation has given his campaign a different identity.
He has spoken about the need for young people to stop seeing politics as something reserved for people who have spent decades inside the political system. According to him, young Nigerians must prepare themselves through education, skills, entrepreneurship and participation in governance.
His argument is simple: if the young people who make up a large part of the population are not involved in decision-making, then many of the problems affecting them may continue to receive attention only from a distance.
For Boki II, those problems are not hidden. They are visible on the roads people travel every day, in communities where access to healthcare remains a concern, in schools where parents worry about the quality of education available to their children, and among young people searching for jobs and ways to make a living.
Nandi has identified poor road infrastructure, healthcare, education and community participation among the issues he believes deserve greater attention. He has also proposed regular consultations involving communities, traditional leaders, youths, women and other stakeholders if elected.
That proposed approach speaks directly to the old Boki way of doing things—come home, sit with the people, hear what they are saying and carry their words along.
It is also why his youth identity has become an important part of the political conversation surrounding his candidacy.
Nandi is not presenting his ambition as a rejection of the incumbent, Rt. Hon. Hillary Bisong, whom he acknowledges as a three-term representative who has contributed to the constituency. Instead, he says he wants to build on what has been achieved while bringing fresh energy and ideas into the representation of Boki II.
His message also goes beyond the usual promise of roads and projects. He has spoken about using his private-sector experience to support entrepreneurship, skills acquisition, youth empowerment and employment opportunities.
For a young man entering politics without previous government office, the road will naturally not be an easy one. Nandi himself acknowledges that young people face financial demands, limited access to political structures and doubts from those who believe political leadership should remain in the hands of older and more established figures.
But that is also where his candidacy draws its character.
He is asking the people of Boki II to look at politics beyond party colours and personal relationships and to judge candidates by character, competence, ideas and commitment to the people.
Whether that message will eventually translate into electoral support is a question only the people of Boki II can answer when the time comes.
For now, however, Nandi Jeremiah Odu has entered a political conversation that is already becoming wider in Boki: should the next generation continue to wait for its turn, or should young people begin stepping forward to ask for a place at the table?
And as the political road to 2027 gradually opens, the young NDC candidate is walking that road from the direction he knows best—the communities, the people and the grassroots.
In Boki, the road may be rough, the villages may be far apart, and the journey may take time. But sometimes, a political journey begins simply with a young man stepping forward and saying: “I am ready to be heard.”
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