Human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has vowed to end insecurity in Nigeria by addressing what he describes as its root cause — economic inequality.

In a recent interview with Symfoni, Sowore criticised the Nigerian political elite, accusing them of deliberately fostering poverty for personal gain while presiding over a corrupt and ineffective security system.

“They have failed and we have told Nigerian people, but they don’t want to listen to advice. They came here to take care of business — their own personal business,” he said.

Sowore declared that under his leadership, the Boko Haram insurgency would become a thing of the past. “If I am in their position at this time, there won’t be Boko Haram anymore,” he stated confidently. “We have to solve the problem by attacking the root cause. The root cause of insecurity is first and foremost inequality.”

He didn’t hold back in his criticism of Nigeria’s security leadership, accusing top officials of enabling criminality instead of stopping it. “The second aspect is to get our security agencies to do what security agencies do — not to be aiding and abetting criminality,” he added.

Sowore also stressed on the pattern of nepotism and lack of meritocracy within Nigeria’s military ranks. “We have all these military generals who don’t go to war. It is only in Nigeria that someone who has never fought in a war becomes a general in the army,” he said, noting that appointments are often based on ties to traditional rulers and religious leaders rather than military experience.

“You cannot have an IGP who is tired and ought to have retired and expect insecurity to end. It will not end,” he concluded.