by Ken Dix

On November 10, 1995, Nigeria’s government executed author/playwright/activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight of his colleagues. His last words spoken were, “Lord take my soul, but the struggle continues.”

In the late 1950s, Royal Dutch Shell (which you probably know as Shell gas stations) began extracting the crude oil that sits beneath the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This region is home to several different tribes of indigenous Africans, including the Ogoni, who are arguably the most affected by Shell’s activities. Pollution directly linked to the company’s oil refining and extraction has drastically changed the region and the lives of the people living there.

An estimated 1.5 million tons of oil has spilled in the Niger Delta ecosystem over the past 50 years. This amount is equivalent to about one “Exxon Valdez” spill in the Niger Delta each year. Most of the spills are believed to be the direct result of poorly maintained aboveground pipelines that run for miles all over the Delta and surrounding area. Many of these spills are simply ignored and in some cases, when they occur on land, Shell’s preferred method of cleaning up the spilled oil is to burn it, rendering the ground useless for years to come. The spills pollute local water sources that people depend on for drinking, bathing, cooking, fishing, and cleaning clothes. These spills also release dangerous fumes into the air, sometimes leaving entire villages uninhabitable and causing serious illness to those that have to stay.

Natural gas is found everywhere that crude oil is found, and in most countries (the U.S .included) laws require the oil companies to either inject it back into the ground or to refine and use it. Shell uses another process called “gas flaring,” which wreaks havoc on the Delta and its inhabitants. This process is devastating to the surrounding environment because when the impure natural gas comes up, Shell simply “flares” or burns it. Because the gas is burned as it comes out, any toxins or chemicals found within that gas are also burned and sent into the air, where they usually come back down in the form of acid rain and pollute the ground and water for miles around.

The Ogoni people have long been aware that not only have they seen almost no money from the oil that has been basically stolen from them, but that their land and livelihood has also been slowly deteriorating. Although protests and opposition to Shell and Shell’s close relationship with the ruling Nigerian dictatorship had been going on for decades prior, things really began to heat up in the late 80s and early 90s. Near the end of the 80s, the Ogoni people found themselves more active and stronger than ever before, but lacking in structure and with out a clear-cut leader. Then, in the early 90s, a man named Ken Saro-Wiwa rose up and lead the Ogoni people in their fight against the oil companies and the Nigerian dictatorship that protected them.

Saro-Wiwa helped to found the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) both to combat Shell’s destruction of their homeland through non-violent protests and boycotts and to seek financial reparations from the oil-company and basic human rights for the Ogoni and other indigenous tribes in Nigeria. The protests and tension grew with such fervor that in 1993 Shell decided to cease all operations in the Ogoni region of the Nigerian Delta. The oil company cited the rapidly growing civil unrest as the main reason, saying it was not possible for them to continue operations in Ogoniland until the government could ensure the safety of Shell and Shell employees. Instead of being a victory for the Ogoni people, this led to a swift and brutal retaliation from the Nigerian dictatorship of General Sani Abacha, whose main source of revenue was now being threatened. Ogoniland was placed under a virtual lockdown and became ruled as a police state. At least twenty-seven villages were attacked and burned by government forces, leaving an estimated 2000 dead thousands more homeless. Yet in spite of the military intimidation, the opposition to Shell in the Ogoniland remained high.

In the spring of 1994, four of Saro-Wiwa’s MOSOP colleagues and party rivals were brutally murdered on their way to a protest. Saro-Wiwa was accused of being a conspirator in the suspiciously military-style assassination. Saro-Wiwa and several of his peers were detained without charge for several months before they were formally charged with conspiracy and murder. A date was set and the case went before not a court of law, but a military tribunal. Keeping in mind that Nigeria’s federal government is a military dictatorship, the entire trial reeked of foul play, but a guilty verdict was found and a sentence of death was given to all nine defendants. Knowing that the trial would come to no other conclusion than his execution, Saro-Wiwa decided to make a statement about the sad state of the corrupt government in Nigeria by saying, “I and my colleagues are not the only ones on trial… Shell is here on trial and… there is no doubt in my mind that the ecological war that the company has waged in the Delta will be called to question…”

Protests took place all over the world and officials from many nations, including then-President Bill Clinton, contacted the Nigerian Government to ask for Saro-Wiwa’s pardon and release. The effort to save Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues, however, was in vein. On November 10, 1995, the government of Nigeria hanged Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the MOSOP. Although Saro-Wiwa and countless others are now gone, the struggle against Shell and their operations in Nigeria lives on.

Map of Nigeria from Wikipedia