From top left: Ojudu’s book; Alexei Navalny and his publication,  Patriot; Vladimir Putin; General Sani Abacha and Babafemi Ojudu after his release from detention

By Babafemi Ojudu

I know all too well the cost of standing up for justice under a dictatorship. In 1997, I was arrested by Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha for my critical writings against his regime. I spent nearly nine months in solitary confinement, sleeping on a bare floor, denied access to books, newspapers, or contact with family and friends. This was not the first time—I had been arrested and detained about 15 times between 1993 and 1998. Throughout that long ordeal, I wore only a single pair of clothes, a caftan, which now stands as a symbol of resistance, exhibited at the Newseum in Washington, DC, curated by The Freedom Forum.

Recently, reading Patriot by Russian dissident Alexei Navalny brought back memories of that dark period in my life. Navalny’s words, penned in his prison diary, resonated deeply with me. His reflections, written while imprisoned in a camp north of the Arctic Circle—where he ultimately died in February after immense suffering—echo the same torment and resolve many of us have felt when imprisoned for daring to speak out.

Newseum in Washington, DC, curated by The Freedom Forum

I feel compelled to share some of Navalny’s hauntingly powerful quotes:

• “Don’t be afraid of anything; this is our country, and it’s the only one we have.”
• “Some people collect stamps. Some collect coins. And I have a growing collection of amazing court trials.”
• “The important thing is not to torment yourself with anger, hatred, fantasies of revenge, but to move instantly to acceptance. That can be hard.”
• “I will spend the rest of my life in prison and die here,” he wrote in March 2022.
• “I didn’t manage to take a single step on the soil of my country as a free man,” he lamented after returning from exile in Germany, where he narrowly survived a poisoning attempt.
• Reflecting on his son’s 14th birthday, he wrote, “Let’s face it, you don’t get to choose your parents. Some kids get stuck with jailbirds.”
• With ironic humor, he wrote of his wife Yulia, his staunchest defender: “When you are looking for a wife, be sure to check if she’s been registered as a juvenile delinquent. I didn’t do that, and here I am.”

Navalny’s courage and insight, born from the crushing weight of imprisonment, mirror the experiences of many who have paid the price for seeking justice. His resilience in the face of relentless suffering reminds me of the inner strength that helped me survive those harrowing months in solitary confinement.

The fight for peace and freedom is far from over. We must continue working toward a world where no one is imprisoned for their beliefs, where freedom and justice reign supreme.

While I was fortunate to be released after Abacha’s death, Navalny tragically died in incarceration. The news of his passing sent a chilling wave through me this February. Reading extracts from his prison diary gave me a racking sense of what my fate could have been—had Abacha lived.

We must not forget. That is why, before the year runs out, I will release my account in a book titled Adventures of a Guerrilla Journalist.