Sowore, a human rights activist and Convener #RevolutionNow Movement spoke in an interview with PUNCH, adding that he was expelled for his involvement in the "Babangida must go" protests, which aimed to drive the military out of power.
Omoyele Sowore, Nigerian human rights activist and former presidential candidate, has reflected on his expulsion from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in 1992, citing it as a pivotal moment that shaped his passion for activism and sports.
Sowore, a human rights activist and Convener #RevolutionNow Movement spoke in an interview with PUNCH, adding that he was expelled for his involvement in the "Babangida must go" protests, which aimed to drive the military out of power.
He recalled that he was one of the students chosen to represent UNILAG at the Nigerian University Games (NUGA) in 1992, but his expulsion prevented him from participating.
Despite the setback, Sowore revealed that his passion for sports and activism only intensified. He took up long-distance running, participating in several marathons, including the Lagos City Marathon.
Sowore believes that the resilience required for marathon running is similar to the perseverance needed for activism.
He said, "I tried to play football but I broke my leg at age 16 so I stopped. I did swimming and I was going to NUGA in 1992 because I was winning all the competitions for my hostel and I was one of the students chosen to represent UNILAG but they expelled me before the games. It was the year we did Babangida must go. That didn’t make me lose interest in sports and at that point, we needed more than NUGA. We were trying to drive the military out of power and not to win medals."
Speaking on his participation at the Lagos City marathon, the former Presidential candidate emphasised the unifying power of sports, noting that it is "blind" to factors like disability, race, or socioeconomic status.
He said, "Resilience. The marathon is one of the few endeavours I’ve engaged in that shows that even when you cannot physically run anymore, you can use the brain to keep going and that is what activism is all about. We are always punished for doing what is right. You find yourself in jail, you are lonely and in isolation, and you need some kind of spirit of resilience to continue going and that is where the marathon came in for me. Also, it is a way of engaging in other activities that are not too controversial. The other part I think about is that sports is the most important human endeavour in the world that connects everybody. Sports is blind. It is not love that is blind it is sports because regardless of whether you are disabled, black, or white, everybody is united by sports.
"Also, it is a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Unfortunately, people from here don’t get that message yet and that is why they are still running after oil.
"The people from Niger Delta ought to be winning gold in swimming competitions. The people in the north should be winning this marathon, not Kenyans. The people around the country would play the best football. There should be a football pitch in every neighborhood just like in Favelas in Brazil where I have been to. That is where all these guys who are now wealthy but used to be poor people were but because the government didn’t leave them to cultism, they provided them with all these sports centres and engagements and they became international athletes and they bring honour and wealth to their country. If I am president of Nigeria, I will focus a lot on sports and I know that just one kid can bring more money than an oil company. The political part of why I do sports is because it takes me everywhere. I get to meet elite runners, and sports organisers and I advise them underground. I also do a marathon in my village on January 1 and I hope every local government can have one. In the US, to run 10km, you have to pay $35 and that’s the cheapest you can find.
"I didn’t even start this long-distance running until 2013 and I haven’t stopped since then. I have done like eight marathons; the one in Miami twice, Philadelphia twice, New York, Lagos and other ones. I have done several 10km and several half marathons."
Sowore also unequivocally stated that if he was president he would not allow a white therapist in Nigeria's team.
"We have a colonial mentality. They need a white man for validation in every circle. If I were president of Nigeria, there wouldn't be even a white therapist in our backroom, and it's not racism. It is that if we can't find a Super Eagles coach among the 200 million people in this country, then we should stop going to international competitions," Sowore said.