Omoyole Sowore Biography ( Age, Net worth, Career, etc )
Omoyole Sowore Biography
Omoyele Sowore is the founder of the online news organization Sahara Reporters and a human rights and pro-democracy activist from Nigeria. Sowore ran for office in the 2019 election and is now an African Action Congress candidate for president of Nigeria in 2023. Since his days as a student, he has become renowned for organizing several demonstrations against poor leadership.
Early Life and Education
Omoyele Sowore, originally from Ese Odo, Ondo State, Nigeria, was born on February 16, 1971, in the Niger Delta to a polygamous family with sixteen children. When he was 12 years old, he learned how to ride a motorcycle so that he could go to the lake every morning before going to school and fish for food for his entire family. The military regime in Nigeria fueled Sowore’s zeal and desire for the media.
Omoyele Sowore started his formal education at an early age, first at a fundamental elementary school, then at Kiribo Community High School in Ondo State, then at Okitipupa Ofedepe Comprehensive High School in Ondo State for his WAEC.
Between 1989 and 1995, Sowore completed his undergraduate studies in geography and planning at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), where he received his degree. He started his political and active career as an undergraduate and was expelled twice before receiving his degree from the school. Sowore graduated from Columbia University with a master’s in public administration.
Career
He participated in student protests in 1989 over the terms of a $120 million loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) intended for an oil pipeline in Nigeria. A reduction in the number of universities in Nigeria from 28 to 5 was one of the terms of the IMF loan. In a 1992 demonstration against the Nigerian government, Sowore led 5,100 students. Seven protestors were killed when police opened fire during the demonstration. Sowore was detained and mistreated. On June 12, 1993, Omoyele participated in the call for a democratic government to replace military control. Several people were arrested, detained, and given life-threatening treatment by government agents as a result.
He accepted a position as a lecturer in Post-Colonial African History at the School of Art, New York, as well as Modern African History at the City University of New York, driven by his desire to make a good difference in people’s lives.
SAHARA REPORTERS
Omoyele Sowore established the media organization Sahara Reporters. In a modest Manhattan apartment, he founded Sahara Reporters in 2006 with the goal of operating a platform from which he could challenge Nigeria’s corrupt political system. Financial gifts from the Ford Foundation and Omidyar Foundation help Sahara Reporters. Sahara Reporters prohibits requests for advertisements and financial help from the Nigerian government as part of its established policies.
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
Omoyole Sowore declared his intention to run for president in the 2019 Nigerian general election on February 25, 2018. He established the African Action Congress (AAC) in August 2018, and under its platform, he plans to compete for president in 2019. Sowore was announced as the party’s presidential candidate on October 6th, 2018, but ultimately lost the race. Additionally, he has emerged as the 2023 presidential candidate for the African Action Congress (AAC).
ELECTION RESULT
Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the 2019 presidential election with 15,191,847 votes, and Sowore came in fifth with 33,953 votes.
CONTROVERSIES
- Claims that he was a cultist were made during his tenure as SUG President in Unilag, which drew resentment from members of other cults.
- They eventually caught up with him during an assault in which he apparently received an injection of the poison “Lead.” In 1999, he required air transportation to America for necessary medical care, but he lived.
- Sowore was charged with accepting payments from President Buhari during the 2014 election in an effort to make fun of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
- His media outlet, Sahara Reporter, has been charged of extorting government representatives out of selfish ambition. Omoyele Sowore biography is not complete without his disagreements with practically all of the politicians in Nigeria, which have led to threats against his life or other legal issues.
Finally, on August 3rd, 2019, he was detained by the DSS. A nationwide protest called #RevolutionNow has been called for by Sowore. Later, the Nigerian Federal Government acknowledged making the arrest. Renowned campaigners like Wole Soyinka and Oby Ezekwesili criticized the detention of Sowore. Sowore was subsequently accused of “conspiracy to commit treason and insulting President Muhammadu Buhari.”
The Federal High Court of Abuja granted him bail on September 24th, 2019. Based on the need that he turn in his foreign passport within 48 hours, this was granted. When asked about the court order, the DSS initially objected to Sowore’s release. In response to the DSS’s refusal, Sowore’s wife organized protests at the UN plaza.
Sowore spoke about the poor treatment he received as he made his first media appearance after being detained on September 29, 2019. He was imprisoned in a pitch-black space with no sunshine and was not allowed to use the phone or watch TV.
On December 5th, 2019, the court once more declared Sowore free after learning that he had complied with his bail conditions. DSS agents nonetheless escaped the area in order to re-arrest him. On December 24, 2019, they officially freed Sowore.
The Federal High Court ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja to pay Omoyele Sowore 2 million Naira by December 8, 2021, in retaliation for the illegal confiscation of his phone at the time of his arrest in 2019.
It was reported in March 2022 that Omoyele Sowore has filed a lawsuit against the Nigeria Police Force and three other parties at the Federal High Court in Abuja for violating his basic human rights.
PERSONAL LIFE
Sowore is married and has kids. His wife’s name is Opeyemi Oluwole Sowore, and they have been living in Haworth, New Jersey. She’s an American-Nigerian. She first gained attention when she organized a demonstration to call for Sowore’s release after the journalist was re-arrested by the Department of State Services. Sowore was first detained on August 3, 2019, and was later detained on December 6 on suspicion of treasonable felony, cyberstalking, and money laundering.
On September 24, 2019, Opeyemi Sowore organized a number of demonstrations and speeches at the United Nations plaza in response to the Department of State Services’ imprisonment of her husband. The demonstrations were held to call for international democracy action and US Senate involvement in the case.
Net Worth
The valuation of Sahara Reporters as determined by indications places Omoyele Sowore’s net worth at an estimated $10 million. The anticipated daily income for Sahara Reporters is $3,000 on average.
Social Media Handle
Instagram: yelesho
Twitter: yelesowore
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