Popular Nigerian politician and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has reacted to reports saying the House of Representatives is proposing a law to make voting compulsory in Nigeria. He recently revealed that the purpose of voting is already defeated if you have to threaten Nigerians to exercise their franchise.
Speaking during an interview with the press, Sowore said that if we have to resort to threatening or forcing citizens to vote, it is proof that democracy is completely dead.
He stated that democracy should always be about choice, and it is absolutely impossible to force anyone to participate in a system they no longer believe in.
According to him, the lawmakers are obviously panicking because fewer Nigerians are voting; however, such forceful laws are unenforceable because you cannot compel people to vote without fixing the electoral process first.
“If you have to use threats to force people to vote, then democracy is dead. Democracy is about choice. You cannot force people to participate in a system they no longer believe in. That proposal is not about participation; it’s about forced legitimacy.
They’re panicking because fewer people are voting, so they want to cook up numbers and call it turnout. The people making these laws already know I will stand against them. But they also know the law is not enforceable. You can’t force people to vote when you haven’t fixed the electoral process,” he said.
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Sowore insisted that he’ll keep speaking the truth to power no matter what, since his convictions as a true Nigerian will not be thrown away to please anyone.
“I don’t think I’m radical enough. People who say that haven’t studied history. Every meaningful change in this world came through so-called radicals. I will not water down my convictions to please those who want me to fit into a box. The louder voices online don’t represent the majority of Nigerians. Those who truly suffer in this country know what I stand for—and they agree,” Sowore said.
Omoyele concluded by saying that his revolution movement is far from dead, reminding Nigerians that other revolution movements across the globe took time before eventually effecting their desired change.
“Not at all. Revolutions take time. The French Revolution took over 10 years. The American Revolution, Cuban, Chinese revolutions all took time. You don’t judge a revolution by how loud it is. You judge it by how persistent the message is.
And that message is still alive. More Nigerians are openly asking for change today than they did in 2019. That’s progress,” he added.
