Listen to our trailer
About the Show
The Republic is a narrative podcast series exploring pivotal Nigerian and broader African historical events and figures. Our second season focuses on the life and legacy of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and one of nine non-violent Ogoni activists the General Sani Abacha military government brutally executed in 1995.
The Ogoni are an ethnic group situated in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. For years, they have suffered pollution and environmental degradation stemming from crude oil extraction on their land. Saro-Wiwa’s protests against oil companies such as Shell, including his leadership of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), frustrated the Abacha government, which relied heavily on oil exports.
On 10 November 1995, after controversial court trials, the Abacha regime sentenced Saro-Wiwa along with eight other Ogoni activists to death by hanging. The eight were: Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine. Their brutal arrest and murder marked a pivotal moment not only in Nigeria’s history but also in the history of global environmentalism.
Nearly 30 years since the Ogoni 9 execution, host Wale Lawal traces the life and legacy of Saro-Wiwa, and the implications of the Ogoni 9 execution. You’ll travel to the Niger Delta and hear about life in Nigeria under Abacha’s regime, the political rise of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the troubled history of oil in the Niger Delta, the arrest and trial of the Ogoni 9, and how Abacha’s execution of the Ogoni 9 continues to shape the politics of Nigeria’s oil wealth and what it means to be Nigerian today.
Read our introduction to Season 2.
The Republic is now available, wherever you listen to podcasts.
Host
Wale Lawal is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Republic.
Listen & Subscribe
Choose your preferred player:
Episodes
OCT 22 2023 × SEASON 1: EPISODE 1
IBB: The ‘Evil Genius’
Our six-episode miniseries launches with the story of the military president who promised democracy.
OCT 29 2023 × SEASON 1: EPISODE 2
MKO: The Man Nigeria Waited to See
In our second episode, we’re asking, how did a poor, ‘nameless’ son of a cocoa trader born in the old Yoruba city of Abeokuta go on to become the almost-president of Nigeria?
NOV 05 2023 × SEASON 1: EPISODE 3
SDP & NRC: Two Sides of the Same Coin
How do you control a democratic transition? You create the illusion of it. Our six-episode miniseries continues with a deep dive into the IBB regime’s two-party smokescreen.
NOV 12 2023 × SEASON 1: EPISODE 4
June 12: Freest and Fairest of Them All
After eight years of anticipation, and eight years of promises from General Ibrahim Babangida’s junta, Nigerians were finally about to have their say at the ballot box. In this week’s episode, we head to the polls!
NOV 19 2023 × SEASON 1: EPISODE 5
June 12: Hope Deferred
On the 23rd of June 1993, just eleven days after June 12, the election that had inspired so much hope, Nigerians had their fears materialize when IBB announced he was annulling the election. How did Nigerians react to this?
NOV 26 2023 × SEASON 1: EPISODE 6
June 12: The Rest Is History
Buckle up as we enter the final stretch of MKO Abiola’s presidential journey.