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2019: Sowore, a dogged fighter goes for the youth

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The media especially the social segment has been awash recently with the return to the country of a presidential aspirant, former students’ leader, Omoyele Sowore. It would have gone unnoticed like most incidents of the day but for thetumultuous crowd that came out to welcome him and the traffic snag that it generated within the precincts of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and the interconnecting roads.

Like hurricane, it has been mammoth crowds that follow his entourage wherever he goes since his emergence on the political scene while the fully packed town hall meetings at various parts of the country that followed the Airport incident express a real intent of a determined shotat the nation’s highest seat of power.This is remarkable for an aspirant who has not announced any affiliation with any existing political party but currently running independently and thus does not enjoy benefits of any party structure as it should be.

For those who could spare a little time for students’ union politics in the universities in the late eighties and early nineties, the name would need very little or no introduction except perhaps to be very sure of the true identity. Sowore is the brave young man who held the reins of Students’ Union government as the president of the University of Lagos Chapter and had ceaseless battles with the university authorities, student cultists and the then military government of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Significantly, because of its several anti-people policies, the IBB administration experienced several students’ riots that often spiraled out of the campuses onto the adjoining streets and areas to mobilise the masses against the government. It could be argued from a generational perspective that students’ unionism reached the peak of radicalism during this period; it was incessant just as it was profound on scale.

It would appear rather simple now to conceptualise for the uninitiated but to take on a brutish military Gestapo at that timerequired the indomitable courage of the steel-hearted, very few would attempt it because of the dire consequences. Indeed, for the writer, at the time he was to start academic activities at Unilag in the mid-eighties, a very close cousin who had taken much liking to the Late Tai Solarin whose column he followed regularly in one of the newspapers, told me he wanted me to be very controversial and radical. I replied that I would only if he was a lawyer and would be there to bail me out each time I got into trouble.

But I chose to stay out of trouble and out of students’ union activities (except to pay the mandatory levies) knowing my humble background and the reality that I would be on my own if I dared to join in the fray. While it was convenient for one to join in innocent students’ mob action within the fringes of the campus, it was a no-go area to be in the forefront or to be involved in any activities outside the campus. Sometimes, it takes being a coward to stay alive and as a friend would put it then, it is the coward who would point out a desolate house to his radical and daring son who wants to conquer the world, “a brave man used to live there but he is no more”.

Therefore, there is everything to admire in a students’ union leader of that era because they put their lives on the line if they must make impact. It is much easier now because most students’ leaders compromise and have become ready tools in the hands of greedy politicians. No wonder students’ riots are now rare.

Sowore did not only confront the establishment but equally endangered his life in the even more dangerous battles with cult groups when cultists ruled the universities and their activities riled the minds. The young man suffered untold hardship by way of various arrests and detentions, endless threats to his life (there is an account that he was forcefully injected with poison by cultists) and rustication. That he survived all these difficulties showed an indefatigable spirit and that God had other plans for him.

Sowore has displayed singular bravery once again by aspiring for the topmost position of presidency, not even governor of his state, nor senator of his senatorial district, House of Representatives Member nor local government chairman for that matter. As an online critic put it,it shows that he is not afraid to tread where angels dread. His take it back message is very apt for the times and conforms to the vision and philosophy of his campaign. He has taken his message to far and beyond tothose in the Diaspora notably Canada, US, UK and others, and back home in Nigeria, he has visited several cities and met with relevant prominent personalities to drum up support because he believes in consultations. At these fora, he discussed the prevailing problems of Nigeria, challenges ordinary Nigerians face and constantly reassures them that their days of facing these problems were numbered. His followership cuts across ethnic lines and certainly beyond his Yoruba tribe. The barrage of reactions to online publications indicates there are many who believe in his vision just as some think that he is a pretender which is normal. On the Instagram, he generated over 12, 972 likes which is quite impressive.

He is organised, focusedand smart with a clearcut strategy on how he hoped to wrest the presidency from the hands of “looters”. He has also denounced any close relationship with the All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu contrary to the thinking of many who thought that he was a stooge of the latter. His on-line publication, Sahara Reporters has been of immense benefit in unraveling shady deals involving power brokers and giving a bite to the voice for justice.

For now, Sowore has not announced his political platform and the issue of independent candidacy is not yet clearly defined in the country’s constitution nor tested in practice. He certainly needs a good platform to actualise his vision.

Although largely in the garbs of military government, the youthful segment of the population has had some shots at the topmost position of leadership in the country. Most heads of state by their official agewere less than or barely 40years old when they mounted the saddle of power and it is not much different at the lower levels. However, with the advent of democracy, the “oldies” have taken over control and not in any hurry to quit the scene for the younger generation. It was not always so though because the likes of Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro and others had an early start at leadership; some of them while they were yetstudents, they enlisted in the country’s agitation for independence and it is the same experience for the rest of Africa.

It is gratifying to note that a young man like Sowore has the confidence to come out boldly to indicate his interest to occupy an exalted seatwhere many perennial veterans have failed and even killed. He has an impressive resume better than those of many office holders; he is not perfect but it is not saints the country needs but those that will perform. Still we live in a world of paradoxes: women want a female president but when they have the chance to elect one, they would ignore her and choose the male candidate instead. The youths have long sought for a president who is youthful and just one of them. Significantly, the population of youths in Nigeria makes up 60 percent of the voting population. Will they embrace the chance or blow it? But whether Sowore becomes the president in 2019 or not, the political landscape would no longer be the same, it certainly would have been redefined. What is more is that Nigeria cannot be isolated from the political gale that is blowing in certain parts of the world, not for too long.

 

Akin Paul

The post 2019: Sowore, a dogged fighter goes for the youth appeared first on BusinessDay : News you can trust.

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