Remembering Ken Saro Wiwa 

Sequel to the murder of four prominent Ogoni on May 21, 1994, the Federal Government charged Kenule Jim Beeson Saro-Wiwa and 29 other Ogoni with the act before the Justice Ibrahim Auta Tribunal. The tribunal convicted Ken and nine of the suspects for the murder and sentenced them to death by hanging.

The controversial verdict was widely condemned at home and overseas. This notwithstanding, the Sani Abacha government went ahead to execute the convicts even before the expiration of the 30-day appeal period which the law guiding the tribunal’s operations stipulated. The haste with which the government executed them outraged not just Nigerians but the international community as well.

Prominent world leaders, including Mr. John Major, British Prime Minister,President Bill Clinton of the United States and (then) President Nelson Mandela of South Africa were shocked that the Abacha government snubbed entreaties and could not even respect its own laws which allowed the accused persons 30 days to appeal. The Commonwealth of Nations promptly suspended Nigeria for this insensitivity of the government and growing human rights abuse which worsened after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. The European Union also imposed sanctions on the country which remained in force until last year when Nigeria democratised.

Ken was one of the Abacha government’s most-wanted Nigerians because of his crusade for better deal for Ogoniland in particular and oil-producing areas in the country in general. He operated under the platform of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), which he founded in 1990 to articulate the Ogoni plight. By and large, the Movement waxed strong despite a few hiccups from within. Shell, was, through the activities of MOSOP, forced to leave Ogoni in 1993 and this meant so much given the fact that oil is the country’s mainstay. MOSOP survived government’s attempts to kill it or make it irrelevant.

The tragedy of Ogoni is the tragedy of other oil-producing areas of Nigeria. Government’s presence in a lot of the oil-producing areas is not commensurate with the resources exploited therein. Most of the roads are impassable. Social amenities like pipe-borne water and electricity are unheard of in many others. Until recent efforts to bring development to the region, it was virtually neglected by past administrations. Bane, Saro-Wiwa’s birthplace in Ogoniland, is barely an hour’s drive from Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital. The sharp contradictions between the splendour of Port Harcourt, the Garden City, and the squalor of Bane in terms of modern amenities despite being close, are worrisome. This is also the problem of oil spillage which threatens the people’s livelihood.

There were the issues. They remain the problem. But the military governments either glossed over them or suppressed the people’s agitations. Happily, however, President Olusegun Obasanjo, on assumption of office, sent the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Bill to the National Assembly. The Commission is to redress the neglect of the oil-producing areas. The government should urgently settle the grey areas in the composition of the Board of the Commission so that it can take off in earnest.

There has been much bloodletting not just in Ogoniland but in other oil-producing areas in the country. The government needs to move fast so that the people can benefit from its commitment to give the areas the desired face-lift. The President should convince the people that democracy has, indeed, come to wipe away their tears.

This is one way of giving meaning to the sacrifice made by Saro-Wiwa and others who died or suffered one way or the other in the dark days of the struggle.

Culled from Comet News November 10, 2000