KEN SARO-WIWA

By Rolland Nwanua

His full name is Kenule Benson Tsaro-Wiwa. He was born in Bori, Rivers State, to Jim Beesom Wiwa, a businessman and community chief, and Widy, a farmer. Ken Saro-Wiwa won a scholarship at the age of 13 to study at Government College in Umuahia the same school where Chinua Achebe had studied.

Ken proceeded to the University of Ibadan. After his graduation he taught at the government college in Umuahia, and at Stella Maris College in Port Harcourt. He also lectured at the University of Lagos. He was the editor of a campus magazine: The Horizon. During the Nigerian civil war he was the administrator for the oil depot at Bonny Island. He also served in the Rivers State Cabinet as a regional commissioner for education. Ken must have spoken out with the aggression of an activist when he made known his opinion on the autonomy for the Ogoni people, for he was dismissed in 1973.

With his writings, Ken drew national and international attention to the campaign of the Ogoni people. According to him, "a writer cannot be a mere storyteller; he cannot be a mere teacher; he cannot merely X-ray society's weaknesses, its ills, its perils. He or she must be actively involved in shaping its present and its future."

In 1990, he founded the movement for the survival of the Ogoni people (MOSOP). In his collection of essays titled Nigeria, the Brink of Disaster and Genocide in Nigeria, he condemned Shell and British Petroleum. He was arrested by the Nigerian government and some of his supporters were killed in Giokoo.

In 1994, Ken Saro-Wiwa and some other Ogoni leaders were prevented by the military from attending a gathering. Four Ogoni chiefs were killed at that same gathering. The government accused Ken Saro-Wiwa of being the cause of the death. He and other leaders were, therefore, arrested. The government used that excuse to raid Ogoni; detaining and beating several hundreds of men suspected of involvement with MOSOP.

While in prison, he wrote a letter which was published in May 1995. In the letter he accused the British government of supplying the Nigerian military dictators with arms, “knowing fully well that all such arms will only be used against innocent, unarmed citizens." He stated in another letter: "The most important thing for me is that I've used my talents as a writer to enable the Ogoni people to confront their tormentors. I was not able to do it as a politician or a businessman. My writing did it. And it sure makes me feel good! I'm mentally prepared for the worst, but hopeful for the best. I think I have the moral victory." He was nominated for a Nobel Prize and awarded the Right Livelihood Award and the Goldman Prize for environmental and human rights activism.

Towards the close of his address to the tribunal, he said, "In my innocence of the false charges I face here, in my utter conviction, I call upon the Ogoni people, the peoples of the Niger delta, and the oppressed ethnic minorities of Nigeria to stand up now and fight fearlessly and peacefully for their rights. History is on their side. God is on their side. For the Holy Quran says in Sura 42, verse 41:"All those that fight when oppressed incur no guilt, but Allah shall punish the oppressor, come the day."

Despite the international pleading for Ken Saro-Wiwa’s life to be spared, the Nigerian government under the administration of General Sani Abacha had him executed. After a trial before a military tribunal, Ken was hanged in November 10 1995, in Port Harcourt, along with eight other Ogoni leaders. Even as he stood face to face with death he still maintained his courage as he said his last words: "Lord take my soul but the struggle continues."

Generation of Domination