{"id":59029,"date":"2017-08-05T14:01:46","date_gmt":"2017-08-05T13:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=59029"},"modified":"2017-08-05T14:01:46","modified_gmt":"2017-08-05T13:01:46","slug":"sowore-light-saraki-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/sowore-light-saraki-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"Sowore is light, Saraki is darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
\nTruly, money can buy them position and influence, but it can never buy
\nthem integrity. If integrity is a commodity being sold in the market,
\nthey may be able to afford it, but unfortunately, this is not the
\ncase. Integrity cannot be bought.<\/p>\n

Apart from on the media, i have never seen nor met with Omoyele
\nSowere, founder of Sahara reporter, neither have I ever seen, nor met
\nwith Bukola Saraki, former Kwara State Governor. However, I have
\nencountered both personalities based on their activities as it affects
\nthe general public.<\/p>\n

My conclusion based on public records of the activities of both party
\nis that, one specializes in looting public resources; while the other
\nspecializes in exposing loot and impunity. This explains why they
\ncan\u2019t cohabit. Light and darkness won\u2019t be friends.<\/p>\n

Take it or leave it, Sowore is light, Saraki is darkness. If both of
\nthem die today, the world will forever remember Sowore for his
\noutstanding contribution to government accountability, but as for
\nSaraki, the world will be a better place without him. His praise
\nsingers will simply move on to praise other looters who can pay the
\npiper.<\/p>\n

Let me break this down for you all to understand.<\/p>\n

In retrospect, the first time the name, Bukola Saraki was ever
\nmentioned in public document was in 1990, when he was standing trial
\nfor theft and fraud perpetrated at the Society General Bank (Police
\nDocument Attached).<\/p>\n

The name, Omoyele Sowore on the other hand made it to public document
\nin 1992 as an activist, anti military dictator, and President of
\nUniversity of Lagos Student Union Government.<\/p>\n

Public record as you can see shows that in early 90\u2019s, one was
\nfighting for democracy and students right against military
\ndictatorship, while the other was alleged of stealing customers money
\nat a bank owned by his father. Between this two, who is light and who
\nis darkness? You decide.
\nFast forward to our return to democracy in 1999.<\/p>\n

The name Bukola Saraki came back to public consciousness in 2003, when
\nhe ran for Kwara State Governorship position. Sowore on the other hand
\nreturned to public consciousness in 2006, not just as a critic of
\npublic irresponsibility, but also as a champion of free expression.<\/p>\n

Sowore established Sahara Reporter to democratize journalism in
\nNigeria and encourage everyday people to report stories about
\ncorruption, human rights abuses and other political misconduct in
\nNigeria. Again, one was spending his time, money, intellect and energy
\nto empower other Nigerians and create a decent society worth living,
\nwhile the other was only interested in having access to public purse.<\/p>\n

When Saraki came on board in 2003, he said he wanted to end poverty in
\nKwara State and build infrastructure, but 15 years after taking charge
\nof the state of harmony, Kwara has been dragged deeper into poverty
\nand its infrastructure in greater shamble than ever before. All major
\ncompanies had closed down, no single school built and our hospitals
\nremain without drugs. This is the legacy that has continued.<\/p>\n

Sowore on the other hand has not only succeeded in getting people to
\nbe telling the real stories of corruption, human right abuses from all
\nacross Nigeria; he also made his platform readily available for the
\nstories to be told. This was the objective of Sahara Reporter from day
\none and it has been achieved. Again, Sowore has passed and Saraki nko?
\nA massive failure.<\/p>\n

Personally speaking, I have been publishing articles and reports on
\nSahara reporter for over 5 years. On no occasion did anyone ever asked
\nme to pay any money. This is not a small feat, considering the brown
\nenvelop syndrome prevalent among media organizations in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

More surprisingly, a friend had written a PR content for someone
\nrunning for office at a time. He approached Sahara reporter to publish
\nthe content as advert, but to my greatest surprise, Sahara reporter
\ntold him they don\u2019t publish sponsored political content. I mean, every
\nmedia outlet carry sponsored content to make money. If you ask Linda
\nIkeji, she will tell you the meaning of getting patronage from
\npoliticians, but Sahara reporter doesn\u2019t care about money, all they
\nwant is to telling the real and factual stories. Any content that is
\ngeared towards promoting any person for political office is not
\nallowed, no matter how much you want to pay. This ensures that nobody
\ninfluences the platform with money. This is the person some
\nnonentities are accusing with fake account statement. I just dey
\nlaugh. Some people are too valuable than money.<\/p>\n

It is a public knowledge that many politicians, including presidents
\nhave attempted to influence Sahara reporters with money on several
\noccasions, but none of them succeeded. There is something money cannot
\nbuy. It is called Omoyele Sowore. Saraka has tried it several times
\nand failed. The same way he failed Kwara and now failing Nigeria. He
\nhis a specialist in failure.<\/p>\n

Let me narrate a special encounter with Omoyele. During our struggle
\nat the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) which led to our
\nexpulsion, Sowore whom I have never met surprised me. Apart from the
\nfact that he assigned a journalist to always cover our story, he did
\nsomething remarkable. My colleague, Elias Ozikpu who was the Public
\nRelation Officer of the Congress of NOUN Students informed me that
\nSowore had called to ask if we need financial assistance for our
\nlawsuit. I mean, an unknown person, calling to offer financial support
\nto us, isn\u2019t that remarkable?<\/p>\n

Although, we told him we had sorted the finance, but the fact that he
\nwas ready to give us funds, without even asking for his assistance is
\nsomething that shocked me really. Is this the person you are comparing
\nwith Saraki?<\/p>\n

When our case was eventually reversed for judgement, Sowore offered to
\nfinance a victory party for the Congress of NOUN students. This is
\nsomebody I have never met before.
\nThe point is that, if Sowore have $100 million dollars, he will give
\nit out to young people in need. He will use it to empower hundreds, if
\nnot thousands of youths. He doesn\u2019t need it for himself. He his a man
\nwith high moral standard.<\/p>\n

If Sowore decided to open Sahara reporter to sponsored content today,
\nI can assure you that the first person that will pay him for
\nsponsorship is Bukola Saraki. All politicians in Nigeria will queue to
\npay Omoyele. Some will even dobale (prostrate) to give him the money.
\nBut to hell with blood money. Sowore needs it not.<\/p>\n

Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
\nKwara Must Change<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat Truly, money can buy them position and influence, but it can never buy them integrity. If integrity is a commodity being sold in the market, they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nSowore is light, Saraki is darkness - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/sowore-light-saraki-darkness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sowore is light, Saraki is darkness - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat Truly, money can buy them position and influence, but it can never buy them integrity. 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