A crowd of supporters on Tuesday at the Murtala Muhamemd International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, welcomed the publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, to Nigeria from his New York base as he begins his presidential campaign.
The crowd, mainly youths and students of higher institutions of learning across the country, arrived the airport in different vehicles, T-shirts with Mr. Sowore’s pictures, musical instruments and placards singing the praises of the publisher.
Security at the airports found it difficult to control the crowd which arrived the scene almost an hour before the arrival of Mr. Sowore and his team on board Delta Air Lines from New York. The aircraft landed at 2:30pm local time.
The crowd sang and danced to several melodious songs played by the instrumentalists before the arrival of Mr. Sowore who many of them saw as the hope of a new Nigeria.
Immediately the publisher stepped out of the terminal, the shout of “Mr. President” rented the air.
In a brief interview with aviation journalists inside the terminal, Mr. Sowore, who wore a brown suit with a white shirt to match, said he was in the country to formerly declare his presidential ambition.
He said even in his sleep, he could govern the country better than President Muhammadu Buhari if elected as the next President of the country.
He said his election would usher in a new dawn for Nigerians and would permanently put an end to godfatherism, cabals and mafias who he said had ruled the country for decades without any major improvement on the lives of the people and the country.
When asked why he wanted to go for the highest political position in the country, Mr. Sowore said had all the experiences and exposure to steer the ship of the country at that level and would not back down on his ambition.
He said: “I am coming from New York and I have just arrived Nigeria to lead a movement to change power in the country. Some of the movement members are probably the people you saw outside. I am here to undertake a series of rallies, town hall meetings and others across Nigeria.
“It is over for the old people, it is over for the cabals, it is over for the mafias that have been running Nigeria down. That is what I am here to do and this is going to go on till 2019 and there is no going back.
“I have been doing activism for over 30 years, I have never done anything less than a national politics. So, there is no less position. The position that is most important to Nigerians today is the position of the president. I am more than qualified. I told you many times, I can run Nigeria better than President Muhammadu Buhari even in my sleep.
“There is no need going to become a local government chairman, counselor or a Senator when I can run the country as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What else do you want me to tell you?” he queried.
He also debunked insinuations that he was being sponsored to vie for the political office, describing the claims as baseless.
“I don’t respond to allegations that are baseless,” he said. “As you know, I am a well-known reporter, I report with hard facts, I don’t report baseless allegations. I am the most transparent candidate and I am raising my funds on line.”
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