Ogoni 9: 25 years later and the very essence of Ken Saro-Wiwa’s struggle still lives with us

Through out Nigeria’s 60-year history, one problem has remained prevalent; managing to find its way through decades and decades of political modifications, from military rule to democratic rule, back to military rule and finally our fourth republic – the issue of tyranny.

The modus operandi of any working society (at least democratic) should be that ‘no one is above the law,’ but in Nigeria, justice is subjectively blind, depending on who the suspects are.

25 years ago, in an incident now referred to as the Ogoni 9 Killing, Ken Saro Wiwa and 8 other activists;  Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine, were unjustly executed on unfounded grounds of murder by the regime of late dictator, General Sani Abacha.

It’s the year 2020 now, and peaceful protesters were shot at by the Nigerian military at the Lekki Toll gate, Lagos, proving that government (even now “democratic”) are still unwilling to change.

Fellow activist and former Presidential candidate, Omoleye Sowore highlighted this when he put up a tweet shedding light on the fact that the same person who allegedly handled the justification of the Ogoni 9 killing is today the Chief of Staff to the President of the country.

Five years before the Ogoni 9 tragedy, these nine men came together with the admirable goal of stopping the disastrous environmental pollution going on in their native region of Ogoniland, Niger Delta.

Their plan was to tackle the problem of exploitation of natural resources in the region, and put an end to the pollution that ensued, and with that in mind they formed the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) in 1990.

However, this group faced overwhelming obstacles during their short-lived existence. First of all, they picked a fight with Dutch oil giant Shell, which had discovered oil in the region in 1957. MOSOP argued that the company devastated the region with their activities, while they gave nothing back to the indigenous people.

In 1990, the Ogoni bill was signed which acknowledged that Ogoni remains a part of Nigeria, but demanded to reserve for itself some political autonomy. Three years later, with no real change, MOSOP decided to organise a peaceful protest, one that saw about 300,000 Ogoni people coming out to join the protest. The protests were so loud that they also managed to gain local and international support.

Seeing this, then Military Head of State, Sani Abacha decided to respond in the most wicked way he knew; through the use of the military force. Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 of his colleagues were imprisoned on grounds of murdering four Ogoni chiefs, tried by a Special Military Tribunal and on November 10, 1995 hanged for the accusation, with no real proof of their guilt.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of this tragic incident, one that saw to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for about three years.

Surrounding this incident were also witnesses who came out to admit being bribed by the government or admitted to being promised jobs by Shell to enable them take down MOSOP.

This incident is also said to be the launch pad for the emergence of the Niger Delta militants in the area, which for many years infused militi- style violence on foreigners and occasionally, its own people for many years.

On the surface, we can all see that nothing has changed, the region Ken and his colleagues fought and died for is still being exploited and polluted with the same intensity (if not more), and the Nigerian government has hardly mustered political will to do much; beyond sweeping this problem under the rug.

Even after the Niger Delta Militants were granted amnesty, trained abroad and offered contracts. Perhaps, to compensate for years of destruction, even produced a Vice President as well as President for the ‘federation,’ nothing substantial has changed. A development that many still tie to collective silence. There are also worrisome cases of human rights violation going on in the area, and only those who are from the region seem to be the only ones speaking up about it.

All Nigerians must see this problem as part of the national crises and not one left for the South South zone alone to deal with. The same energy, maybe even more put into calling for an end to police brutality should be put into calling for an end to the destruction of lives in the Niger Delta.

Nigerians should never forget that nine innocent men and by extension, more in their hundreds have been killed for this cause. There must be genuine and sustainable compensation from the government and multinational companies to help rebuild the region. One that will be handled by individual communities at the grassroots as the Ogoni Bill had suggested, and not an unaccountable federal agency or a conniving Federal Ministry that can easily make away with an N81 billion fraud after putting up theatrics on national television.

Government exists for the welfare of the people and not the other way round; they should answer to the law and their responsibilities, rather than continue to act with impunity.

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