In a nation where silence is often safer than courage, Omoyele Sowore has chosen, yet again, to stand where many fear to. His recent call and planned protest for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu have sparked both admiration and criticism across Nigeria’s political divide. But those who truly understand Sowore’s history know that this is not about tribe, sentiment, or political gain. It is about justice and the right of every citizen, regardless of ideology, to be treated fairly under the law.
Since 1993, Sowore has never been one to align with popular opinion or play to the gallery. From his student activism days leading the University of Lagos Students’ Union against military tyranny, to his unrelenting advocacy for democracy and accountability, he has proven time and again that his cause is not sectional but universal. Whether it was fighting for police officers denied their benefits, victims of state brutality, or even ordinary Nigerians crushed by bad governance, Sowore’s activism has always been anchored on one principle, that an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
It is, therefore, intellectually dishonest for anyone to accuse him of playing politics with Nnamdi Kanu’s detention. Those who make such claims either misunderstand the man or deliberately twist the narrative. Sowore is not seeking emotional validation from the Igbo people, nor is he aligning with separatism. His protest is not about ideology but integrity, about whether Nigeria still respects her own laws.
The fact is simple… the Federal High Court has granted Nnamdi Kanu bail. The continued detention of the IPOB leader despite that ruling is not only contemptuous, it is unconstitutional. It undermines the very foundation of justice and sets a dangerous precedent. Those who say Sowore is wrong for demanding Kanu’s release are, perhaps unknowingly, saying the court itself is wrong. You cannot claim to believe in the rule of law while supporting the government’s disobedience of it.
Sowore has made it clear that he will set aside his personal and political differences with anyone, including those he has criticized, to rally all Nigerians around the call for Kanu’s freedom. This is not hypocrisy; it is maturity. He understands that at this moment, the question is not about who likes or dislikes Nnamdi Kanu. It is about whether we are a country governed by laws or by emotions and ethnic bias.
True to his character, Sowore has also challenged South East leaders, asking them to rise above fear and self-interest in demanding justice for their son. But he has equally criticized the broader Nigerian leadership, from the North to the South, for collectively contributing to the decay of the nation. To him, injustice is not regional; it is systemic. His fight is not for the Igbo alone, but for every Nigerian who could be silenced, detained, or punished tomorrow under the same arbitrary powers.
What separates Sowore from the typical Nigerian politician is his uncompromising moral consistency. He does not trade his convictions for comfort. He has been jailed, beaten, and maligned, yet he remains unbowed. He speaks truth to power, not out of vendetta but conviction. Unlike many “activists” who chant freedom songs on social media only to dine with oppressors in private, Sowore has never sold out. He is not a merchant of selective outrage. When he fought for #EndSARS victims, he did not ask for their tribe or religion. When he opposed fuel subsidy fraud, he did not check who benefited. His activism is one of conscience, not convenience.
That is why the recent comment by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Information and Media, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, describing Sowore as an “anarchist” for demanding justice in line with a valid court order, is not only unfounded but reckless, damaging, and beneath the dignity of the Presidency itself. Such careless labeling does grave disservice to truth and betrays the government’s growing intolerance for dissent.
It is ironic that Bayo Onanuga, a man who once wore the badge of activism and journalism, now finds comfort in vilifying those who still hold firm to the ideals he abandoned. His words reveal not strength, but intellectual decay, the voice of a man whose moral compass has been distorted by proximity to power. Nigerians of good conscience must disregard his statement for what it is, a feeble attempt to smear character and divert attention from the real issue, that the government is in open contempt of a court order.
Onanuga’s criticism is a poor reflection of the Presidency’s moral standing. He has done nothing noteworthy in recent years to advance democracy or public accountability. To now brand a principled activist like Sowore as an anarchist is the height of irony and moral bankruptcy. His comments are best ignored, for they will fade, as all sycophantic voices before him have faded, into the oblivion of history, alongside the likes of Femi Adesina and others who once defended the indefensible.
Those attacking Sowore today forget that if the tables were turned, Sowore would have done the same for anyone else, even for his critics. That is what makes him rare. In a country where most people only speak up when injustice touches their own ethnic group, Sowore’s voice remains one of the few truly national consciences.
At its core, this call for Kanu’s release is not about politics but about the sanctity of law. The moment we allow the government to pick and choose which court orders to obey, democracy collapses into dictatorship. Justice cannot survive in selective obedience. Sowore understands this, and that is why he stands firm even when standing alone.
Sowore’s critics may accuse him of seeking attention, but history will record that when many chose comfort over courage, he chose confrontation. When others calculated risks, he counted costs and still stepped forward. When others waited for the “right time,” he made every time the right time. That is the spirit of true activism; inconvenient, uncompromising, and unafraid. This is someone who has consistently fought for human rights and democracy long before social media even existed. One who challenged the likes of Ibrahim Babangida, protested against IMF policies, and risked his life under the brutal Abacha regime. He is not an accidental activist; it is his nature, his conviction, his way.
Nigeria today needs voices like Sowore’s more than ever. Not voices that echo the government’s propaganda, nor those that only whisper when it is safe. We need citizens who will defend justice even for those they disagree with. Because the day injustice is normalized for one, it becomes a threat to all.
The truth is simple and straight forward… Sowore is not standing for Nnamdi Kanu alone. He is standing for the soul of Nigeria, a country slowly losing its moral compass. And if that makes him controversial, then perhaps controversy is what conscience looks like in a nation where silence has become the new patriotism.
