Now infamous to the Nigerian Federal Government, after the staged RevolutionNow protest which he spearheaded, Omoleye Sowore has again became popular in the Nigerian media airwaves following the RevolutionNow protest and his subsequent arrest by the Department of Security Service (DSS). All of these happened within a span of 24 hours.
Well for those of you who have only heard of him as a result of the RevolutionNow protests and his arrest, here are 5 Facts about the man, Omoleye Sowore.
1. He is a man of multiple careers
Let’s say he is a jack of all trade. Yes, Omoleye Sowore is a known human rights activist, blogger, writer, lecturer and of course politician.
2. He has always had a streak of activism in him
Sowore was expelled twice during his university days due to his involvement in politics and student activism. He participated in demonstrations protesting the conditions of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan of $120 million to be used for a Nigerian oil pipeline. Among the conditions of the IMF loan were to reduce the number of universities in the country from 28 to 5. He led 5100 people in protest against the Nigerian government which resulted to the killing of seven people when the police opened fire. Subsequently, he was arrested and tortured in connection with the protest in which the seven people were killed.
3. He is the founder of an online news platform
He founded the Sahara Reporters news platform in 2006. He stated that the news platform is aimed at fighting corrupt practices and bad governance. Sahara Reporters is funded by the Ford Foundation and Omidyar Foundation.
4. He founded a political party
Omoleye Sowore founded a political party, African Action Congress (AAC) in 2018. He is the party’s national chairman.
5. He contested in the 2019 Nigerian general election
Omoleye Sowore ran for president in the just concluded 2019 presidential elections. He declared his intention to run for president on February 26, 2018 and on October 6, 2018, following successful primary elections at the AAC’s national convention, Sowore emerged unchallenged as the Presidential Candidate for the party.
Sowore lost to Muhammdu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who polled 15,191,847 votes. Actually, Sowore came tenth garnering 33,953 votes.
Sources: bionetworth.com.ng, en.wikipedia.org
