- Safiu Kehinde
Human Rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, has celebrated the 20th year anniversary of the media outlet as he recalled the background of its establishment.
Sowore made this known in a post shared on his X handle on Friday.
The 2023 African Action Congress (AAC) Presidential candidate recounted how the media outlet was launched in New York for citizen-driven investigative reporting.
Sahara Reporters, according to him, was established without any powerful backing or establishment protection.
“Some twenty years ago, the media platform Sahara Reporters was launched in New York, and the landscape of journalism has never been the same since.
“What began as a bold experiment in citizen-driven investigative reporting grew into a disruptive force that challenged entrenched power, amplified unheard voices, and redefined accountability in Nigerian and African media.
“It shifted the balance, proving that journalism could be fearless, borderless, and uncompromising.
“We had no powerful backers, no establishment protection, just raw conviction, courage, and a small circle of determined believers.” He said.
Sowore acknowledged the media outlets’ news sources and citizens journalists for their sacrifice to the platform.
He vowed that the struggle and media journey of Sahara Reporters will one day be published and filmed.
“Behind the scenes were insiders willing to leak the truth, powerful writers who risked careers, citizen journalists who sent in evidence from the shadows, legal minds who stood guard when the threats came, and a quiet but unshakeable support system that made survival possible.
“The full story of the risks, the victories, the midnight strategy sessions, the lawsuits, the exile years, and the stubborn refusal to be silenced will one day be told properly. In text. And in film.” Sowore added.
The activist attached of picture of himself taken the outlet was launched in 2006.
“This was what I looked like on February 18, 2006, the day Sahara Reporters was launched in New York City.” He wrote.