Nigerian politician and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, shares his love for running and other sports, in this interview with ABIODUN ADEWALE
You’ve participated in some editions of the Lagos City Marathon. What’s your connection with sports?
Resilience. The marathon is one of the few endeavours I’ve engaged in that shows that even when you cannot physically run anymore, you can use the brain to keep going and that is what activism is all about. We are always punished for doing what is right. You find yourself in jail, you are lonely and in isolation, and you need some kind of spirit of resilience to continue going and that is where the marathon came in for me. Also, it is a way of engaging in other activities that are not too controversial. The other part I think about is that sports is the most important human endeavour in the world that connects everybody. Sports is blind. It is not love that is blind it is sports because regardless of whether you are disabled, black, or white, everybody is united by sports. Also, it is a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Unfortunately, people from here don’t get that message yet and that is why they are still running after oil.
The people from Niger Delta ought to be winning gold in swimming competitions. The people in the north should be winning this marathon, not Kenyans. The people around the country would play the best football. There should be a football pitch in every neighborhood just like in Favelas in Brazil where I have been to. That is where all these guys who are now wealthy but used to be poor people were but because the government didn’t leave them to cultism, they provided them with all these sports centres and engagements and they became international athletes and they bring honour and wealth to their country. If I am president of Nigeria, I will focus a lot on sports and I know that just one kid can bring more money than an oil company. The political part of why I do sports is because it takes me everywhere. I get to meet elite runners, and sports organisers and I advise them underground. I also do a marathon in my village on January 1 and I hope every local government can have one. In the US, to run 10km, you have to pay $35 and that’s the cheapest you can find.
I didn’t even start this long-distance running until 2013 and I haven’t stopped since then. I have done like eight marathons; the one in Miami twice, Philadelphia twice, New York, Lagos and other ones. I have done several 10km and several half marathons.
How has been your experience running in Lagos?
It’s challenging. Lagos would have been a perfect running space but it’s always challenging because of the weather. Heat is the greatest enemy of long-distance running so it’s tough to conquer Lagos around this time. I am only doing 10km but I’ve done the 42kn before. It was intense but I finished.
How many editions have you taken part in now?
This year’s edition was my fourth. I would have participated in more but I was in detention and restricted to Abuja for some time. I also participated once in the half marathon in Abuja.
What’s your best finish?
In Lagos, it’s for fun but my best finish was at the New York Marathon and it was three hours and 50 minutes. I’m old now, I don’t think I can have that kind of time again to finish races.
How involved were you in sports while growing up?
I tried to play football but I broke my leg at age 16 so I stopped. I did swimming and I was going to NUGA in 1992 because I was winning all the competitions for my hostel and I was one of the students chosen to represent UNILAG but they expelled me before the games. It was the year we did Babangida must go. That didn’t make me lose interest in sports and at that point, we needed more than NUGA. We were trying to drive the military out of power and not to win medals.
Do you still have time to follow sports and even the local league these days?
I have to admit that I failed in that direction. I used to be a fan of Shootings Stars. There was Calabar Rovers, Rangers and Stationery Stores, Abiola Babes, BBC Gboko and there was one in Ilorin too. This country had some of the best clubs in those days but they ruined it. Almost every state or city had a major football club and they had good players. They were mostly the ones who made up the Green Eagles then.
So, do you also think government ownership is holding football clubs back in Nigeria?
Government is the biggest business in every country in the world. Even the private investors still need the government to bail them out. So, why can’t we bail out the sports sector too? It should be a combination, let the government have its own and private investors have their own too. Sports is a big deal. If this country can host the Olympics once, it will change everything.
Aside from taking part, what is the biggest sports event you have attended?
I recently attended an Argentina game in New Jersey where I watched Lionel Messi. That is probably the biggest in terms of attendance and influence. I hope we revive that kind of status in Nigeria too so we start supporting our teams instead of foreign clubs.
Who is your favourite Nigerian athlete of all time?
It has to be Segun Odegbami because we grew up with his name. I think he motivated a lot of people and he was more than just a player. I have followed a lot of the younger guys too but I have not taken sides until they retire too.
Finally, we have a new coach for the Super Eagles who is Franco-Malian. It has sparked a lot of debate about where our coaches should come from but is that more important than the result we need?
Africa and Nigerians have a colonial mentality. They need a white man for validation in every circle. If I were president of Nigeria, there wouldn’t be even a white therapist in our backroom and it’s not racism. It is that if we can’t find a Super Eagles coach among the 200 million people in this country, then we should stop going to international competitions. I’m sure there is somebody but it’s all about corruption and colonial mentality.