Nigeria, Oct. 12 -- I was reluctant to make this disclosure. For weeks, I weighed silence against the obligation to be transparent. In the end, a video forced the matter: footage of my brotherly friend, Omoyele Sowore, leading a "Tinubu Must Go" procession. It reminded me that this dilemma has a public dimension I can no longer keep to myself.

Let me begin with context. Sowore and I have maintained a cordial relationship despite our different orientations - his rooted in activist journalism, mine in strategic communication. When I was removed from federal public service after my well-documented altercation with then Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sowore used his platform, energy, and resources to defend me at a time when few were ...