By Ishaya Ibrahim
KOWA party presidential candidate in the 2015 election, Professor Remi Sonaiya, did not lose the race. She won, in the broader sense of the word.
Sonaiya, who is also running for president in 2019 under the KOWA party, declared this at the launch of her book, One Woman’s Race, a telltale of her 2015 campaign, unveiled on August 23 in Lagos.
“I didn’t lose. When people interact with me and said you ran in 2015 and you lost, I would tell them I did not lose,” she said pointedly.
“Several of the women, and even some young people who are running today have come to me to say I am going into this because of you. How would you now turn around and tell me that I lost?
“When Nelson Mandela says we must oppose apartheid, did he know what was going to happen? That it was going to cost him 27 years of his life in prison?
“Let us not constantly focus on the end point to say; if I see that the end point will be good, then I go for it. If I see that the end point might be negative, then I withdraw.
“No. We must have the conviction to say this is the right thing to do and I’m just going to do it,” Sonaiya said.
Bolanle Sarunmi-Aliyu, a female governorship aspirant in Oyo State, said she got the courage to vie for the position because of Sonaiya’s 2015 presidential run.
“I am running for the position of the first governor in my state because of the likes of you. I have fought the fear of running,” she told Sonaiya.
She then asked: “What else should I be doing?”
Sonaiya responded: “I think you have already won because that petrifying fear is what keeps a lot of people from doing what they are supposed to do. It is not just about running for political office. It is about standing up for truth. If we can conquer fear, then we are free indeed to do that which is right.
She however offered a practical advice: “One practical thing though, I will say, please don’t borrow money to run for elections. Spend only the money that you have.”
The event was co-chaired by Fola Adeola, one of the founding members of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), who also was vice presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 election, and Prince Omotade.
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