Omoyele “Yele” Sowore is a Nigerian pro-democracy and human rights activist best known for launching Sahara Reporters, an online news medium.
He established the African Action Congress, a political party, in August 2018 and was its presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections. Sowore is also running for president in 2023.
Omoyele Sowore Biography
Omoyele Sowore was born on February 16, 1971. He is from Ese-Odo in Ondo State. Sowore was raised in a polygamous household with 16 children in Ondo. When he was 12 years old, he learned how to ride a motorcycle so that he could go to the lake every morning before going to school and fish for food for his entire family. The military regime in Nigeria fueled Sowore’s passion and desire for the media.
After being expelled twice for political reasons and student activity, Sowore’s academic program at the University of Lagos was extended by two additional years, allowing him to complete his studies from 1989 to 1995. Between 1992 and 1994, he served as President of the University of Lagos Student Union Government, promoting anti-cult and anti-corruption causes. Sowore graduated from Columbia University, United States, with a master’s in public administration.
Career
Omoyele Sowore’s career has been about activism since he was young. In 2019, he ran for president of Nigeria under the banner of the African Action Congress (AAC), but he was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
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In addition to his political stance, he is a blogger, a writer, and the founder of the well-known news organisation Sahara Reporters, which he founded in 2006 while living in Manhattan, New York, United States.
Sowore also lectured on post-colonial African history at the School of Art in New York City and worked as a lecturer at the City University of New York’s Modern African History program.
Sahara Reporters
Sowore founded Sahara Reporters in New York in 2006 to combat unethical and dishonest government activities. The Ford Foundation and Omidyar Foundation support the Sahara Reporters with grants. Sahara does not, by policy, accept advertisements or funding from the Nigerian government.
Activism
Sowore has had a reputation for standing up for people’s rights, particularly those of students, ever since he was a college student. This helped him win the UNILAG Student Union Government presidential election.
He participated in student protests in 1989 over the terms of a $120 million loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) intended for an oil pipeline in Nigeria. A reduction in the number of universities in Nigeria from 28 to 5 was one of the terms of the IMF loan.
He led 5,100 students in a 1992 demonstration against the Nigerian government. Seven protestors were killed when police opened fire during the demonstration, leading to his detention. On June 12, 1993, Omoyele called for the democratic administration to replace the military regime. Several people were arrested, detained, and given life-threatening treatment by government agents.
Arrest
The Lagos State Police Command detained Sowore on January 12, 2017, in response to a plea from magazine publisher Lekan Fatodu. Later that day, in the evening, Sowore posted a video on his Facebook page confirming the occurrence and accusing the police of backing Fatodu as the latter assaulted him at the Area F Police Command.
On August 3, 2019, the Department of State Services (DSS) detained Sowore in anticipation of the statewide #RevolutionNow protest. Wole Soyinka, Oby Ezekwesili, and numerous other activists criticized the Federal Government, which subsequently acknowledged the arrest. Later, he was accused of “conspired treason and insulting President Muhammadu Buhari.”
Sowore was granted bail by the Federal High Court of Abuja on September 24, 2019, requiring him to turn in his foreign passport within 48 hours.
The DSS refused to release him, claiming to be unaware of the court decision. As a result, his wife organised rallies at the UN Plaza in New York, which drew attention to Nigeria’s failed democracy.
Sowore made his first media appearance since being detained on September 29, 2019. He talked about how he had been mistreated and kept in a chamber without sunlight. He added that while being maltreated, “Boko Haram commanders who were engaged in high level terrorism had access to telephone, TV, and even cable in their cells.”
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On December 5, 2019, the court released Sowore again, indicating that he had complied with his bail conditions. However, DSS agents rearrested him right inside the court. The final day of his release was December 24, 2019.
The DSS was ordered to pay Omoyele Sowore N2 million on December 8, 2021, following the illegal seizure of his phone in 2019 at the time of his detention by the Federal High Court of Abuja.
According to reports from March 2022, Omoyele Sowore filed a lawsuit against the Nigeria Police Force and three other parties in the Federal High Court in Abuja for violating his basic human rights.
Omoyele Sowore net worth
Omoyele Sowore has an estimated net worth of $10 million.
Family
Sowore is married and has kids. His wife’s name is Opeyemi Oluwole Sowore, and they live in Haworth, New Jersey. She’s an American Nigerian. She first gained attention when she organized a demonstration to call for Sowore’s release after the journalist was re-arrested by the DSS.
Tribe
Sowore is Yoruba from Ondo State in Southwest Nigeria.
President
Sowore declared his intention to run for president in the 2019 Nigerian general election on February 25, 2018. He established the African Action Congress (AAC) in August 2018 and sought office again in 2019. Omoyele Sowore won the AAC’s presidential primary without any opposition on October 6, 2018, following successful voting at the national convention. After visiting luminaries like the Emir of Kano and Wole Soyinka, while touring several states in Nigeria, Sowore set out on a world fundraising tour that stopped in Australia, the US, and the UK. On November 10, 2018, he was in Luton, England.
Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won 15,191,847 votes, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party got 11,264,977 votes, placing him in second place. Fela Durotoye of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), who received 16,779 votes, and Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Democratic Party (YPP), who received 21,886 votes, were two other recent entrants to the race. Sowore finished fifth with 33,953 votes.
Sowore declared his desire to run for president in the Nigerian general election of 2023 on March 1st, 2022. He is running for Presidency under his political party, AAC.
Conclusion
He has constantly backed social justice and equality for all people throughout his adult life until the present. Sowore remained steadfast despite the most trying circumstances, including threats to his life and the lives of his family. Accounts of his tenacity abound.
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