Author: Stephen Okoroafor

OMOYELE Sowore has spent much of his public life presenting himself as a permanent victim of power. Every confrontation with authority becomes persecution, every court appearance becomes a stage, and every allegation against him becomes proof that the state fears his voice. That routine has served him for years, but recent proceedings before the Federal High Court in Abuja have made the contradiction harder to ignore. Democracy gives citizens the right to criticise government, oppose power, and mobilise public opinion. That right must remain protected, especially in a country where public institutions still carry public mistrust. Yet democratic freedom also…