Cover design by Wale Lawal with photo illustration by Sarah N. Kanu for THE REPUBLIC.
THE REPUBLIC PODCAST
Looking for Ken Saro-Wiwa
Cover design by Wale Lawal with photo illustration by Sarah N. Kanu for THE REPUBLIC.
THE REPUBLIC PODCAST
Looking for Ken Saro-Wiwa
The Ogoni are an ethnic group located in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, where they have long faced environmental degradation from oil extraction on their land. In his final years, Ogoni writer and TV producer Ken Saro-Wiwa dedicated himself to leading the Ogoni people’s struggle for environmental justice. He spoke out against the oil exploitation and environmental pollution caused by companies, particularly Shell. This activism set the stage for a violent conflict with both Shell and the Nigerian government. Saro-Wiwa’s protests, and his activities with the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), frustrated the military government, which heavily relied on oil exports.
In May 1994, four Ogoni chiefs who opposed Saro-Wiwa were killed during a protest. Saro-Wiwa and other MOSOP officials were arrested and accused of the killings. They were tried by General Sani Abacha’s military government and executed on 10 November 1995. Along with Saro-Wiwa, those executed were Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine—now collectively known as the Ogoni 9. Their brutal arrest and murder marked a pivotal moment not only in Nigeria’s history but also in the history of global environmentalism.
Today, we are excited to launch the second season of The Republic: A Podcast, a narrative podcast series exploring pivotal Nigerian and broader African historical events and figures. In this season, host Wale Lawal traces the legacy of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the significance of the Ogoni 9, nearly 30 years later. Through interviews with Ogoni activists, family members, historians, and other key stakeholders, we will uncover one of Nigeria’s greatest miscarriages of justice: the Abacha regime’s brutal execution of nine non-violent Ogoni activists in 1995.
In this season of The Republic, we travel to the Niger Delta and meet the people who will tell the story of how Nigeria’s breadbasket became an oil wasteland. We explore the ongoing efforts to reclaim the Niger Delta’s destiny from the throngs of a petro-dystopia, learning about their hopes and dreams for a better region and a more just Nigeria. Most importantly, we will learn about Saro-Wiwa: the story of a voice that came to life in the small village of Bane, met a physical end in the city of Port-Harcourt, but continues to reverberate around the world.
Here is The Republic’s trailer as we count down to the podcast launch on the 10 November, 2024⎈
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