November 10, 1995 - Ken Saro-Wiwa - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Nigeria hangs human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Kenule “Ken” Saro-Wiwa was born on October 10, 1941 in Bori, Nigeria, a member of the Ogoni ethnic minority. The homelands of the Ogoni are in the Niger Delta, where oil extraction has negatively impacted the environment. As an adult, Saro-Wiwa became a successful businessman who in time turned his attention to writing novels and producing television programs – both to high acclaim. However, his political and environmental involvement caught the attention of Nigeria’s military government. In 1990, Saro-Wiwa founded MOSOP, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, through which he and other supporters pressed the government to address the environmental damage from oil companies Shell and British Petroleum. In May 1994, the government arrested Saro-Wiwa, later sentencing him to death for the alleged murders of four Ogoni elders. Leaders from around the globe urged Nigeria’s government to grant clemency for what everyone knew to be trumped-up convictions. Despite world attention, however, Saro-Wiwa and eight other dissidents were executed on November 10, 1995. International response was swift; the Commonwealth suspended Nigeria and the European Union imposed sanctions. Despite UN resolutions to revisit the trial, the Nigerian government has not budged and Saro-Wiwa is still a convicted murderer. On the tenth anniversary of his hanging, at least 28 countries took place in commemorating Saro-Wiwa and the other eight victims. A year later a Living Memorial was unveiled by Saro-Wiwa’s son in London, England. Nigerian artist Sokari Douglas Camp sculpted an enormous silver steel bus which toured England in 2006. Douglas Camp said she was “trying to convey a bit of Nigerian spirit which laughs at itself all the time.”

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