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About the Episode
You’re probably wondering why we chose to start this season talking about General Sani Abacha, the despot who ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his mysterious death in 1998. The short answer is this: if we really want to understand what Ken Saro-Wiwa, the protagonist of our story this season, was up against, we have to understand Abacha.
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? During much of Abacha’s regime, this was the dynamic between Abacha and Saro-Wiwa. But at one point Abacha seemed to give way, to extend an olive branch. In 1994, around two months into his rule, he invited Saro-Wiwa to become Nigeria’s oil minister. What drove Abacha to make this offer? And can you guess Saro-Wiwa’s response?
In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers.
Read the Episode 1 transcript.
About the Show
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.
Read our introduction to Season 2.
Host
Wale Lawal is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Republic.
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Notes on Episode 1
In researching Episode 1 of The Republic, we made use of the following sources.
Books
Akyeampong, Emmanuel and Gates Jr., Henry Louis. Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press, 2011.
Hunt, Timothy. The Politics of Bones: Dr. Owens Wiwa And The Struggle For Nigeria’s Oil. McClelland & Stewart, 2005 (originally published 2005).
Saro-Wiwa Jr, Ken. In the Shadow of a Saint: A Son’s Journey to Understand His Father’s Legacy. Steerforth, 2001 (originally published 2001).
News/Journal Articles
Buckley, Stephen. ‘Nigeria Suffers in Silence,’ The Washington Post, 1995.
Isaac, Katherine. ‘Nigeria – A Strike for Democracy,’ Multinational Monitor, June 1995.
Kaufman, Michael. ‘New Chapter in Nigeria: The Obituary; Sani Abacha, 54, a Beacon of Brutality in an Era When Brutality Was Standard,’ The New York Times, June, 1998.
Osaghae, Eghosa. ‘The Ogoni Uprising: Oil Politics, Minority Agitation And The Future of The Nigerian State,’ African Affairs, Volume 94, Issue 376, Pages 325–34, July 1995.
Onwudiwe, Ebere. ‘In Nigeria, Voiceless Victims of Debt,’ The New York Times, 1990.
Rupert, James. ‘Gen. Sani Abacha Dies,’ The Washington Post, 1998.
The Cable. ‘20 Things to Remember About Abacha,’ 8 June 2016.
The Associated Press. ‘Nigerian Military Ruler Assumes Absolute Power,’ The New York Times, September 7, 1994.
Media
LUBCON International. History of the Nigerian Petroleum Industry.
Report of a Mission by the Non-governmental Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. Nigeria – Stolen By Generals: Abuja After the Harare Commonwealth Declaration. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
1995.
The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). Nigeria (NGA) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners.
Episode 1 makes use of archival footage from the following sources:
Afreximbank Meetings: Dangote Shares Vision and Experience on Africa’s Industrial Transformation. (courtesy Frontier Africa Reports)
Any Attempt to Test Our Will, Would Be Decisively Dealt With – Abacha Coup Speech 1993. (courtesy Hisple Media)
First Commercial Oil Well: 64 Years After, Failed Promises Trail Discovery in Bayelsa. (courtesy TVC News Nigeria)
I Am More Dangerous Dead. (courtesy Majiye Uchibeke/VIMEO)
Nigeria A squandering Of Riches (BBC DOCUMENTARY FULL FILM) 1984 – Onyeka Onwenu. (courtesy Onyeka Onwenu)
Was Sani Abacha Nigeria’s Most Brutal Head of State? (courtesy HistoryVille)
Why Did Oil Become Important in World War I?. (courtesy Choices Program)