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When asked whether he is using protest as a political strategy to attain the presidency, Sowore dismissed the idea, stressing that his activism predates his political ambitions.
Human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said that protests have become deeply embedded in Nigeria’s political DNA, noting that almost every past president once took to the streets to protest in defiance of real or perceived injustice.
Speaking on News Central’s Politics HQ programme, Sowore said protest remains one of the key tools through which Nigerians have historically forced change, including the return to democracy in 1999.
“Protests have brought us democracy,” Sowore said. “All these people who say protest doesn’t work, go and check them today, they protested.
“There is likely no former Nigerian president that has never protested before. Obasanjo protested. Buhari protested. Tinubu not only protested, he was paying people to protest in this country until he became the president. People protested for Goodluck Jonathan when he was faced with the Yar’Adua cabal.”
When asked whether he is using protest as a political strategy to attain the presidency, Sowore dismissed the idea, stressing that his activism predates his political ambitions.
“No, not at all. If protests were to get somebody to the top, I think I would have become the president some 20 years ago,” he said.
“I was protesting when I had no political interest. I’m correcting an impression. I’m not trying to do protests to get to power. That is what the APC (the ruling All Progressives Congress) did.”
Sowore added that his political engagement is driven by a desire to fundamentally change Nigeria, rather than personal ambition.
“My partisan involvement in politics is to fundamentally change Nigeria. The people who might become the next presidents of Nigeria might be people who might have never protested before,” he said.
The convener of the #RevolutionNow movement stressed, “Protesting to get to power is not my intention. I have been protesting since I was 21 years old, when I was not qualified to be the president, even if I wanted to be.”
Nigeria’s history is replete with leaders who once defied the establishment through protests before assuming power.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who led Nigeria as a military ruler and later as a civilian president, once participated in campaigns against military dictatorship and corruption.
Similarly, late former President Muhammadu Buhari, before his election in 2015, led several demonstrations, including the high-profile “Occupy Nigeria” protests in 2012 against fuel subsidy removal by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Also, President Bola Tinubu was one of the key financiers of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which organized massive protests and civil resistance against General Sani Abacha’s regime in the 1990s.
He also participated in the “Occupy Nigeria” protests in 2012 and reportedly financed a series of protests before he became the president.
Ironically, successive Nigerian governments, including those led by former protesters, have often clamped down on demonstrations since coming to power.
Peaceful protests such as the #EndSARS movement in October 2020, #EndBadGovernance protests in August 2024, anti-fuel price protests, and student-led demonstrations have been met with arrests, harassment, and, in some cases, deadly force.
Despite this, Sowore, who has been arrested multiple times for organising protests against bad governance, insists that public resistance remains a legitimate and essential part of Nigeria’s democratic journey.
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