Africa
The Packaged Unsuccessful Presidential Candidate And Activist -By Adenike Ajanlekoko
The Nigerian political space does not need more self-styled messiahs in perpetual performance mode. It needs disciplined leaders and principled activists who can do the hard, unglamorous work of change.
In Nigeria’s complex political and civic space, few names have attracted as much attention and as much controversy as Omoyele Sowore.
Once hailed by some as a daring activist and political disruptor, Sowore has over time revealed himself less as a principled reformer and more as a self-packaged brand, carefully designed for foreign sympathy and domestic sensationalism.
Sowore’s political and activist journey follows a consistent pattern: bold entry, loud disruption, media theatrics, and inevitable collapse.
From his student union days to the RevolutionNow movement and later his ill-fated presidential runs, the storyline is remarkably predictable.
His 2019 and 2023 presidential bids were not just unsuccessful; they exposed the thinness of his political base and the absence of a coherent plan beyond soundbites and sloganeering.
Rather than building sustainable grassroots movements, he has relied heavily on media stunts to keep his name in circulation.
His brand of activism thrives on controversy, distortion, and personal vendetta. The problem, however, is that it lacks depth and authenticity.
An activist worth their salt should be consistent, focused, and capable of mobilising people toward constructive change, not merely feeding a perpetual cycle of outrage for personal relevance.
Sowore’s style mirrors the sensationalist tactics of his Sahara Reporters platform: selectively targeted exposés, unverified claims, and inflammatory framing designed to inflame rather than inform.
One might have forgiven these theatrics if they were paired with tangible achievements. But over the years, Sowore’s activism has yielded no significant legislative, judicial, or policy victories.
Instead, it has been a carousel of arrests, allegations, and photo ops. Even his recent antics, complete with questionable injury photos and misleading narratives, show an activist more concerned with optics than outcomes.
Sowore’s failure as a presidential aspirant is not merely about losing elections; it is about the inability to evolve from an opposition gadfly into a credible statesman.
Similarly, his failure as an activist is not about being silenced by the state; it is about squandering the trust of those who once saw him as a voice for the voiceless.
What remains is a packaged persona, marketed as a freedom fighter abroad but increasingly viewed at home as a noise-maker who long ago ran out of substance.
The Nigerian political space does not need more self-styled messiahs in perpetual performance mode. It needs disciplined leaders and principled activists who can do the hard, unglamorous work of change.
For all his noise and notoriety, Sowore has shown himself to be neither.
Adenike Ajanlekoko is the Director of Publicity of South West Youth Alliance and writes from Ikeja, Lagos
