Posted by Samuel on Tue 30th Dec, 2025 - tori.ng
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Sowore cautioned against celebrating Joshua’s survival while ignoring the lives lost in the incident.
Omoyele Sowore, a former presidential candidate and human rights activist, has lamented Nigeria’s poor road safety and emergency response systems while reacting to recurring accidents on the nation’s highways, including the one involving Nigerian-British boxing star Anthony Joshua.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Sowore cautioned against celebrating Joshua’s survival while ignoring the lives lost in the incident.
“Yesterday or indeed today is not a time to gloat over the horrific accident that nearly claimed the life of international boxing icon Anthony Joshua Joshua. Tragically, it did take the lives of his associates and possibly the driver involved,” he said.
Sowore stressed that the victims should not be overshadowed by Joshua’s celebrity status.
“Their de@ths must not be reduced to mere footnotes in the survival of a celebrity,” he added.
While noting that Joshua’s global profile attracted widespread attention to the crash, Sowore said the incident should prompt national reflection.
“Yet, because Anthony Joshua is a global figure, this incident has attracted massive attention. We must not allow this moment to pass without confronting our collective responsibility,” Sowore said.
He described fatal road accidents as a routine reality in Nigeria, blaming systemic collapse and neglect.
“These kinds of fatal accidents are the daily, naked reality of a nation that has failed in small things and in big ones alike,” Sowore said.
According to him, emergency response systems remain grossly inadequate across the country.
He said, “A country where road safety agencies and the police cannot provide even the most basic first aid. Where there are no stretchers, no functional ambulances, and certainly no air ambulances. Where people d!e not only from accidents, but from institutional neglect.”
Sowore called for far-reaching change, insisting that the country must prioritise human life.
“This is why we must work sincerely and relentlessly toward a revolution, one rooted in dignity, competence, and the sanctity of human life,” he said.
He also recalled a past conversation with Joshua, warning the boxer against aligning with political leaders he described as corrupt.
“I spoke frankly to Anthony Joshua years ago about the danger of aligning with Nigeria’s rotten leadership,” Sowore said, noting that the warning was unpopular at the time but has since been validated.
“I must still insist that Anthony Joshua stop genuflecting at the altars of those who have failed Nigeria so catastrophically. It is time for him to turn his back on them. Icons must not lend legitimacy to dysfunction,” he added.
Sowore, who offered condolences to the bereaved families, said, “My sincere condolences go to the families of the deceased. Their lives mattered, and they deserved far better than this broken system.”