We all need to start getting our information right. Right to freedom of association is an inalienable right that is fully backed by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.
Sowore has been actively consistent for 30 years in his quest for a better society. Flashback to Sowore's achievement as the SUG president of Unilag was the fighting of cultism on campus, leading the student protest to help secure Abiola's mandate in 1993 and subsequently leading Nigerian students to fight the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha, a fight that saw him arrested and put him in prison.
That, for a SUG president, was a great achievement. Will Nigeria become heaven on earth if Sowore became the president? Hell no, but until he becomes the president we will never know what he can/cannot do, he may be the instrument of change we need and he may be buried in the graveyard of failure like the greedy politicians before him.
But one thing no one can take away from Sowore is his unrelenting fight for the interest of Nigerians which he has done both in his capacity as the student union government and as the publisher of Sahara reporters.
As long as Nigeria is concerned, there is a need for everyone to look beyond personal interests, but a need to face reality must be considered by all and sundry. Going by the political history of Nigeria, dissenting voices are seen as a threat to the government. Whereas, many failed to understand the fact that most developed countries of the world today have once at a time, experienced a fundamental change primarily called 'REVOLUTION'. we've had many reasons that paved way for a revolution in some counties like the apartheid regime in South Africa.
The Arab Spring, the Cuban revolution, the American revolution, the French revolution and many more. Most of these revolutions happened as a result of incompetence, deficiency, and wickedness in government.
To speak in truth and reality, the government's attitude towards the running of a nation, makes the people to revolt at times, especially when the situation is getting out of hand. Just like the present state of today's Nigeria. We would only be deceiving ourselves to say Nigeria is developing, but in reality, we all know the country is apparently falling like the wall of Jericho every blessed day.
As a matter of fact, the government as well need to stop misleading the public on what they termed as a violent revolution. It should be clear to the Nigerian government that the ongoing #RevolutionNow protest is a revolution of consciousness and not a violent one. The brains behind this are too smart to be blackmailed by what the government is referring to a violent revolution.
These are well-meaning Nigerians, who are not only harmless but on a peaceful protest to make the government find a lasting solution to the menace bedeviling the Nigerian state.
Revolution should not be given a narrow view; it is a concept that is holistic in nature. Primarily and etymologically, it simply means fundamental change. So it would be an act of misinformation and miseducation on anyone's part to opine that revolution only implies the use of violence. After all, this #REVOLUTIONNOW group has not been found on any weapons, not to talk of planning to topple the government of the day.
We all need to start getting our information right. Right to freedom of association is an inalienable right that is fully backed by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.
Any attempt by the government to abuse the people's right to freedom of association would amount to a total showdown between the Nigerian people and the Nigerian government. It is on this note that I would like to solicit for the immediate release of Omoyele Sowore, and other comrades who were arrested during the #RevolutionNow protests. The struggle is not about Sowore, it is a struggle for all Nigerians. Sooner or later, the country will experience a fundamental change, as there is no hope in sight that all will be well with our dear country.
#I STAND WITH REVOLUTIONNOW
#FREESOWORENOW
EGBEOLOWO RIDWAN IS A GRADUATE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION/POLITICAL SCIENCE
HE CAN BE REACHED THROUGH HIS EMAIL.