Rethinking Democratic Innovation: Youth, Technology and the Adoption of Digital Democratic Innovations in Nigeria

The paper focuses on digital democratic innovations, understood as technology mediated processes intended to broaden participation, support deliberation, and strengthen citizen voice. In policy and academic debates, such innovations are often presented as neutral tools capable of enhancing inclusion and accountability. However, evidence from Nigeria suggests a more ambivalent reality. Many digital participation initiatives remain symbolic, short lived, or disconnected from decision making, limiting their democratic impact. This raises important questions about how digital democratic innovations are adopted, interpreted, and experienced in political systems that occupy an ambiguous space between democratic and authoritarian governance. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork conducted in Nigeria, the paper explores how young people understand political participation, how they engage with digital platforms, and what conditions shape their trust in participatory processes. The research is based on in depth interviews with young Nigerians, civil society actors working on youth engagement and democratic reform, and decision makers including policy advisors, civil servants, and politicians. By bringing these perspectives into dialogue, the study examines the gap between institutional designs of participation and the lived political experiences of young citizens. Technology is treated not simply as an instrument, but as a political space shaped by power relations, social norms, and unequal access. While digital platforms offer new opportunities for mobilisation, expression, and accountability, they also reproduce exclusions linked to infrastructure, digital literacy, surveillance, and elite control. The paper shows that young Nigerians often engage creatively with digital spaces outside formal democratic innovations, using social media, messaging platforms, and online networks to contest power and build collective identities. These practices challenge dominant assumptions about participation and highlight the limits of top down technological solutions. The paper argues that digital democratic innovation can only contribute to democratic renewal if it is grounded in local political realities and shaped by those it seeks to include. Youth engagement should not be treated as an outcome of technological adoption, but as a starting point for democratic design. By centring youth experiences and situating technology within Nigeria’s broader political context, the paper contributes to debates on democracy, innovation, and inclusion, and offers insights relevant to other fragile or transitional democracies seeking to engage young citizens in meaningful ways.