肯·萨罗-维瓦

Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) was a Nigerian writer, teacher, television producer, and social rights activist. He was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in the Niger Delta whose homeland, Ogoniland, has been targeted for crude oil extraction since the 1950s and has suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping.

Initially as a spokesperson, and then as the president, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation of the land and waters of Ogoniland by multiple international oil companies, especially the Royal Dutch Shell company. He criticized the Nigerian government for its reluctance to enforce environmental regulations on the foreign petroleum companies operating in the area.

At the peak of his non-violent campaign, he was tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly masterminding the murder of Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government meeting, and was hanged in 1995 by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. His execution triggered international outrage and led to Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for more than three years.

Biography

Early life

Kenule Saro-Wiwa was born in Bori, near Port Harcourt, Nigeria, on 10 October 1941. He was the son of Chief Jim Wiwa, a forest ranger who held a title in the Nigerian chieftaincy system, and his third wife Widu. He officially changed his name to Saro-Wiwa after the Nigerian Civil War. He was married to Maria Saro-Wiwa.

His father's hometown was the village of Bane, Ogoniland, whose residents speak the Khana dialect of the Ogoni language.……

Family lawsuits against Royal Dutch Shell

Beginning in 1996, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Earth Rights International (ERI), Paul Hoffman of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman and other human rights attorneys brought a series of cases to hold Shell accountable for alleged human rights violations in Nigeria, including summary execution, crimes against humanity, torture, inhumane treatment and arbitrary arrest and detention. The lawsuits are brought against Royal Dutch Shell and Brian Anderson, the head of its Nigerian operation.

Legacy

The execution of Saro-Wiwa marked the beginning of the international business and human rights (BHR) movement.

Saro-Wiwa and other members of the Ogoni Nine were granted a posthumous pardon by President Bola Tinubu on 12 June 2025.

In popular culture

Artwork and memorials

A memorial to Saro-Wiwa was unveiled in London on 10 November 2006 by London organisation Platform. It consists of a sculpture in the form of a bus and was created by Nigerian-born artist Sokari Douglas Camp. It toured the UK the following year.

Documentaries

A BBC World Service radio documentary, Silence Would Be Treason, was broadcast in January 2022, presented by his daughter Noo Saro-Wiwa and voiced by Ben Arogundade.

Personal life

Saro-Wiwa and his wife Maria had five children, who grew up with their mother in the United Kingdom while their father remained in Nigeria. They include Ken Wiwa and Noo Saro-Wiwa, both journalists and writers, and Noo's twin Zina Saro-Wiwa, a journalist and filmmaker. In addition, Saro-Wiwa had two daughters (Singto and Adele) with another woman. He also had another son, Kwame Saro-Wiwa, who was only one year old when his father was executed.

Biographies

Canadian author J. Timothy Hunt's The Politics of Bones (September 2005), published shortly before the 10th anniversary of Saro-Wiwa's execution, documented the flight of Saro-Wiwa's brother Owens Wiwa after his brother's execution and his own imminent arrest. Owens fled to London and then on to Canada, where he is now a citizen and continues his brother's fight on behalf of the Ogoni people.……