Omoyele Sowore, Fully Loaded By Lynda Tilley

Omoyele Sowore, Human Rights Activist and founder of the African Actionreligions and walks of life and over time, have been able to pose unbiased questions to significant people, do my own research, follow patterns and build up as true a picture as I can, of what’s really going on there.  

I’ve found the Nigerian people to be warm, welcoming and truly, amongst the strongest people I’ve ever met on our continent. I have spent many hours in mentally stimulating conversations with highly intuitive people and have loved the Nigerian sense of humour and resilience they have! I feel that the picture painted to our countries in the South, especially of Nigerian people in general is very wrong and extremely damaging. No, “all Nigerians” are not either drug dealers, scammers or terrorists. This is the propaganda we’re fed – along with an innate fear of all Nigerians “you don’t mess with The Nigerians”.
I’m not affiliated with anyone person or organisation in Nigeria and so I give you my honest and unbiased view as an “outsider looking in.”
To those of you who still doubt Omoyele Sowore, given the reason that he “lacks the necessary experience,” I ask you to consider how much experience many African leaders have previously had before they, too, became our Presidents and leaders? I really urge you to educate yourselves on what this man has done for Nigerian people and human rights causes, amongst other notable things, throughout his lifetime. He’s only ever stood for the same things that he stands for now, although his journey has never been an easy one.
Most importantly, Omoyele Sowore is who he is today without having benefited materially or politically from what he stands for in any way, nor by spilling even a single drop of blood. He’s also refused to ever ‘look the other way’ to make things easier for himself. He’s a rare man and a rare leader because he’s powered and driven by facts, truth and justice. I get the feeling that the lies, corruption, death and injustice that permeate Nigeria today, only add fuel to his fire and supercharge his determination – to break the cycle of bad governance in Nigeria, once and for all, and to give it back into the hands of Nigeria’s long-suffering people. 
As yet more injustice rages around him as each day passes, instead of despair – motivation kicks in and this only makes him more determined than before, to continue with what he stands for – each injustice simply propels him forward, adding more fuel to his engine.
I’ll tell you something as well about true leaders like Sowore – the leaders who really are only for the people and their country – no university degree or amount of money or hands-on experience can teach true, honest leadership – that only comes from the heart. True leaders like Omoyele Sowore are BORN that way. Their life experiences simply make them even better, stronger leaders.
I don’t know him, but I do know this – what he stands for today is most probably EXACTLY what he’s stood for in one way or another, for his entire life. 
We each have things in life that we will never compromise on – regardless. For most of us, these are things that affect us personally. But for men like Sowore, THIS is their “thing” – in his case, it means taking Nigeria back, into the hands of the people. Making a start on overcoming the wrongs of the past and building the foundations of a beautiful, new future for all Nigerians.
The more times you knock a man like him down, the more chances he has to get back up on his feet again. Each time he gets up, it makes him stronger, more determined. A weaker man would have stayed on the floor a long time ago – not even bothered to try and get up again, he’d been knocked down too many times. 
Sowore’s honesty, transparency, disinterest in material wealth or power and the anger which he feels with all the injustice in Nigeria and the human suffering he sees daily, means that he won’t tolerate any person who not only doesn’t value these things but who also exploits them or gains from them in some way. 
Herein lies his “superpower” – the reason why he has the respect and support of people across Africa and around the world and why the crowds you see gathering around him are not paid or bribed to be there – they’re there of their own free will.
The corrupt and the greedy can’t understand this “superpower” – it’s something completely foreign to them as it’s based on honesty and selflessness. It’s one of the things their money can’t buy, their books can’t teach them and it’s something they will never be able to take away from him – no matter which way they try. Now, Sowore’s coming for them all – for all those people who exploit what he stands for, who’ve abused their positions and have only added to Nigeria’s destruction and complete devastation of her people.  
His tank is fully fuelled now, thanks to the increasing desperate assassination, intimidation and arrest attempts on not only his but his supporters’ lives. His voice is the only weapon he needs, but it’s the most effective weapon of all – his facts and truths are his chosen ammunition and he’s fully loaded, starting to fire his words of truth, one after the other and he hits the target each and every time. 
There’s no detour on this road, Sowore’s coming straight at all those who loot, lie and kill with abandon – there’s nowhere for them to hide, no way to avoid the bullets of truth that he speaks and you realise suddenly that there are thousands and thousands of good people beside him, who’ve all simply had ENOUGH … they are here as a united force of truth.
This is him! THIS is Nigeria’s future President and saviour of all Nigeria – get out of the way, lies don’t stand a chance – it’s the force of change, blowing truth your way – it’s Omoyele Sowore, fully loaded!
©Lynda Tilley 2022
(A Zimbabwean supporter of Omoyele Sowore & the people of Nigeria, in solidarity)