Newsmedianews | Ken Saro

International Day of Remembrance

Friday, 10 November, 2006
Below is the text to a letter which representatives from Ogoni Solidarity Ireland, Afri and Shell to Sea sought to hand in to Shell's Headquarters at Corrib House in Dublin, Ireland on November 10th. A spokesperson for the group said that at first Shell refused to even respond to them, but eventually accepted the letter through the gap in the plate glass door at the side of the building.

Ken Saro -Wiwa & Companions
Mr.Daniel Gbokoo
Dr Barinen Klobel
John Kpuinen
Baribor Bera
Saturday Dobee
Felix Nuate
Nordu Eawoh
Paul Levura

November 10th 2006 is the 11th anniversary of the death by hanging of environmental activist, and internationally renowned writer, Ken Saro - Wiwa and his eight companions:

We have gathered here today to honour and respect the high price paid by these brave men, their families and communities, in seeking to negotiate with Shell and the Nigerian Government for the environmental, human and political rights of the Ogoni people.

Their vision was simple. They sought justice and a peaceful existence for all.

Unfortunately Shell's views were more aligned with those of the Nigerian Military Government with regards to natural resources and the rights of indigenous peoples.

Ogoni Solidarity Ireland is aware of Shell's silence as the world pleaded with the Nigerian Military Government for the lives of the 9 Ogoni men.

This silence has forever tainted Shell Oil. It was both the Nigerian Military Government and the hidden collusion of Shell that martyred these visionary men of conscience. In doing so Shell has stamped the names of Ken Saro -Wiwa and his companions in annals of World History as the prophetic activists who dared to stand up and take on one of the world's biggest oil companies.

10 years later we continuesto question Shell's modus operandi with local communities both in Ireland and particularly in the developing world.

We say to Shell; work with local people in a way that respects their basic human, environmental and political rights. We reiterate our support for and solidarity with the Rossport 5 and the communities in North Co Mayo who as a result of Shell's involvement in their area, have a special empathy with the ogoni people as they commemorate the 10 th anniversary of their inspirational leaders.

We do not want to see the experience of the Ogoni people replicated in Rossport or anywhere else the world.

Yours Sincerely
Ogoni Solidarity Ireland
Afri
Shell to Sea

KEN SARO WIWA
by Devi from Laguna Beach
"Whether I live or die is immaterial. It is enough to know that there are people who commit time, money and energy to fight this one evil among so many others predominating worldwide. If they do not succeed today, they will succeed tomorrow. We must keep on striving to make the world a better place for all of mankind - each one contributing his bit, in his or her own way."

That was a statement by Ken Saro Wiwa, prior to his execution by a military tribunal in Nigeria on Nov. 10, 1995. He and eight others were hanged for what is generally agreed to be trumped-up murder charges by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. His real crime was leading a group that was protesting the devastation of the Ogoni people's lands by Shell Oil and the oppression and marginalization of the Ogoni people themselves by the military government who profited from Shell's oil business.

Besides leading his people, Saro Wiwa was also an accomplished writer. His best-known book is probably, "Sozaboy", a seemingly simple tale of a soldier; the book is actually a powerful anti-war lesson. Ken Saro Wiwa deliberately wrote this book in what he referred to as "rotten English", or the pidgin English that is in common use in Nigeria.

The following is an excerpt from Ken Saro Wiwa's closing statement at the Nigerian Military's Tribunal:

My lord,
We all stand before history. I am a man of peace, of ideas. Appalled by the denigrating poverty of my people who live on a richly endowed land, distressed by their political marginilization and economic strangulation, angered by the devestation of their land, their ultimate heritage, anxious to preserve their right to life and to a decent living, and determined to usher to this country as a whole a fair and just democratic system which protects everyone and every ethnic group and gives us all a valid claim to human civilization, I have devoted my intellectual and material resources, my very life, to a cause in which I have total belief and from which I cannot be blackmailed or intimidated. I have no doubt at all about the ultimate success of my cause, no matter the trials and tribulations which I and those who believe with me may encounter on our journey. Nor imprisonment nor death can stop our ultimate victory.

LINKS
Goldman Prize recipients--Ken Saro Wiwa
KEN SARO WIWA AND 8 OGONI PEOPLE EXECUTED: BLOOD ON SHELL'S HANDS
http://www.remembersarowiwa.com/
Ken Saro Wiwa Foundation Canada
It is 10 years since Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight were murdered in cold blood...
Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa : Indymedia Radio