By Agatha Emeadi
Omoyele Sowore was the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC).
He is one human rights activist and pro-democracy campaigner with radical mindset to pull Nigeria out from poor leadership.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, Sowore said that he is not giving up on lifting Nigerians out of the present hardship.
You ran for the presidency in 2023 under the African Action Congress, but lost. Will you still contest in 2027?
Yes, it is true that I ran in the 2023 elections, thinking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was organizing an election. What they eventually carried out was a charade; what I have repeatedly told the public is that it was not an election, but a selection. Did I lose? Of course, not. Nigeria did not hold an election in 2023, so the idea of claiming someone lost or won is untenable. Regarding your question about running for election in 2027, I am not a cyclical partisan political entity. I do not wait for election cycles to fulfil my obligations to the Nigerian populace. I have been engaged in the race for Nigeria’s liberation since the early 1990s and have continued daily since.
From what you saw in the 2023 contest, do you think it will be easy to dislodge President Tinubu in 2027?
When Nigerians are ready, they will dislodge Tinubu and his coterie of buccaneers and saboteurs anytime they want. They need not wait until 2027, the Tinubu regime is choking Nigerians to death.
How would you rate the Tinubu presidency so far?
I just told you I do not believe in the Tinubu regime in the first place. That a person is smuggled into the presidential seat as president and that simply because the heist succeeded, we must accept it is not my way of thinking. I do not believe in Tinubu’s Presidency.
You participated in the EndBadGovernance protest and Fearless in October protest, why did you support the protests?
I organized the two actions with our revolutionary colleagues across Nigeria. But beyond that I have also participated in direct actions to end bad governance in Nigeria since 1989.
Many believe that you like anything protest, they quickly point at your popular Revolution Now, why are you always identified with protests?
Protests are powerful mass resistance tools to fix a country taken over by brigands.
You have seen the hardship in the country following the economic downturn. If you become president, what will you do to return Nigeria to the good old days?
First, I do not think Nigeria has experienced outstanding leadership that could make us claim there was a “good old time.” I disagree with that assertion. I have worked my entire life to bring about a visionary era of new young vibrant leaders that could enthrone a great country where there is equity, justice (particularly economic justice), peace, security, progress and shared prosperity. We could have a great time if we brought about that era we had promised this country since 1990.
Some people believe that unless the opposition parties come together, they will not be able to defeat Tinubu in 2027, is your party ready for a merger ahead of 2027?
No, first, you must have parties that have an ideology, that is, not special-purpose vehicles, not parties of gerrymanderers and carpetbaggers. I have not met a party that meets the criteria of our level of grounding to merge with, but the mass of our people has constantly been advised to join our party, the AAC and let us bring about the spectrum of prosperity, progress, and social justice for all.
What is your candid advice to Nigerians who are getting restive as a result of hardship?
Let them revolt without ceasing!
Your activities started from your days in the University of Lagos. What has been this motivation from a young age?
There were several factors, some particular to my upbringing, the environment I grew up in, the recession and poverty I witnessed, the people I met early in life, the exposures I had, and personal conviction.
What has been the feeling of your parents in your activism? Give one example of your father’s feeling in one of your arrests?
I think the most challenging moment my father had was being told I had been killed in a cult gang attack sponsored against me by the govt in 1994. He travelled from our home town in Ondo to Lagos with the hope of getting my body for burial at home. When he arrived at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) he was told that even in death I would still be tried by the government. That was harrowing for a father expecting his first son to graduate from the university.