According to Omoyele Sowore, the leader of the #RevolutionNow movement, the August 2019 protest marked a turning point in public understanding of the need for revolutionary change in Nigeria. Before the protest, many Nigerians were not fully aware of the need for systemic change.
In an interview with Arise News TV on Thursday, Sowore explained that his goal with the #RevolutionNow movement was to achieve a complete overhaul of the Nigerian political and economic system. He acknowledged that such a revolution had never been accomplished in any other country, but argued that it was necessary in order to improve the lives of Nigerians.
He said, “I actually was calling for revolution, and I never denied it. There’s only one form of revolution – a change that has never been seen before.
“In the life of any country, that’s what I was calling for. And I told the DSS (Department of State Services) guys the same thing when I was interrogated. It is on record. I told the judge when I came to court. When they were charging me, I said I didn’t understand the charges because you cannot prosecute the revolution. So there’s nothing different.
“Guess what? Most Nigerians didn’t know the context of the revolution until then. Five million people searched for the word ‘revolution’ on Google on August 5, 2019. I would have been arrested before the protest and I was surprised that the protest still went ahead across the country.
“An interesting thing now is that it’s no longer a crime to say the word ‘revolution’. Everybody’s calling for revolution.”
PurpleWorld earlier reported that the Nigeria’s government recently dropped its treason case against Sowore. The government had accused Sowore of inciting violence and plotting to overthrow the government through the #RevolutionNow movement.
The candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections was arrested and detained by Nigeria’s intelligence agency, Department of State Services (DSS) in August 2019 for calling for a revolution in the country under then-President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
He was later released on bail but could not leave the country as part of his bail conditions.
A Notice of Discontinuance stamped by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday and signed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) on Wednesday, said the complainant (Federal Government of Nigeria) would discontinue the case.
The notice reads, “By virtue of the power conferred on me under Section 174 (1) (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, Section 107 (1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and all other powers enabling me in that behalf, I Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN intend to discontinue Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/235/2019.”