It is 18 years
today (November 10, 2013) that Nigeria lost an Icon, a crusader and a fighter
who fought for the rights of his people by giving his life to the struggle of
pulling his people from National and International slavery. It is true that the
Man Ken Saro-wiwa has been killed but what is not true is that the man is dead,
because heroes can never die since their memories remains evergreen.
In his book of short stories, Forest of Flowers
(1986), the following passage from the story Night Ride, reflects Saro-Wiwa’s
anger at seeing multinational oil companies, like Shell, appropriating land
from local people. He noted that an old woman had hobbled up to him. My son,
they (SHELL) arrived this morning and dug up my entire farm, my only farm. They
mowed down the toil of my brows, the pride of the waiting months. They said
they will pay me compensation. Can they compensate me for my labours? The joy I
receive when I see the vegetables sprouting, God’s revelation to me in my old
age? Oh my son, what can I do? l look into it later, he had replied tamely.
Look into it later. He could almost hate himself
for telling that lie. He cursed the earth for spouting oil, black gold, they
called it. And he cursed the gods for not drying the oil wells. What did it
matter that millions of barrels of oil were mined and exported daily, so long
as this poor woman wept those tears of despair? What could he look into later?
Could he make alternate land available? And would the lawmakers revise the laws
just to bring a bit more happiness to these unhappy wretches whom the search
for oil had reduced to an animal existence? They ought to send the oil
royalties to the men whose farms and land were despoiled and ruined. But the
lawyers were in the pay of the oil companies and the government people in the
pay of the lawyers and the companies.
How he looked into it later?
In 1990, Saro-Wiwa started the struggle to salvage his people and
dedicated himself to the amelioration of the problems of the oil producing
regions of the Niger Delta. Focusing on his homeland, Ogoni, he launched a
non-violent movement for social and ecological justice. In this role he
campaigned against the activities of the oil companies and the Nigerian
government in Ogoniland. “To deny a people the rights to self
determination for well a hundred years is to subject them to slavery. To take away
the resources of a people and refuse to give them anything in return is to
subject them to slavery, to take away the land of a people who depend solely on
land for their survival and refuse to pay them compensation is to subject them
to genocide. I accuse the ethnic majority who ran Nigeria for practicing
genocide against the Ogoni people. I accuse the Oil companies who prospect for
Oil in Ogony today for encouraging genocide. I accuse Shell and Chevron of
practicing racism against the Ogoni people because they do in Ogoni what they
do not do in other parts of the World where they prospect for Oil”. This cost
him his life.
Saro-Wiwa also wrote for his closing testimony at the trial: “I and my
colleagues are not the only ones on trial. Shell is here on trial and it is as
well that it is represented by counsel said to be holding a watching brief. The
Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come
and the lessons learnt here may prove useful to it for there is no doubt in my
mind that the ecological war that the company has waged in the Delta will be
called to question sooner than later and the crimes of that war be duly
punished. The crime of the Company’s dirty wars against the Ogoni people will
also be punished.”
During his burial the priest who conducted the funeral service told
the people that Ken gave his life to the betterment of his people because he
fought for a good curse which is a statement that spurred me to write this
piece of article to mark the 18th Anniversary of the UN
international Ken Saro-wiwa day for November 10th 2013.
As we remember Ken Saro -Wiwa and the others, we must do this bearing
it in mind that they laid down their lives so that we may have justice and
equal opportunities in our father’s land. That we may breath fresh and unpolluted air, that we may have
unlimited access on our lands, natural resource that is our cultural heritage
may be preserved, above all that we may enjoy our fundamental human rights in
its fullest. In recognition of the contributions of late Ken Saro -Wiwa towards
environmental justice as well as expression of aversion for the gruesome murder
of Ken Saro -Wiwa and others, we should enjoins all environmental -friendly
Nigerians and people in other parts of the world to make the following demands
1. Nigerian government should Implement UNEP
Ogoni Environmental Assessment Report
ii
iii. 2. Setup
an environmental court where issues relating to the violation of environmental
and human rights would be determined with dispatch.
iv. 3. Oil
should be left in the soil.
v. 4.
Resist
more land seizure in Oganiland
vi. 5
Campaign
to end the political marginalization of Ogoni people
It is only the actualization of the
above demands that will bring succor to all environmental- friendly Nigerians
as well as make Ken Saro -Wiwa and his comrades in the other world smile at us
for keeping the light of the struggle glowing.
Project Assistant
Democracy Outreach ERA/FOEN
08063894925
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