Story of Ken Saro-Wiwa

Story of Ken Saro-Wiwa

UPSC GENERAL STUDIES PAPER III; Also useful for Essay on development/environment.'

Just imagine that a hidden treasure is found in your backyard. How will you feel if the treasure is taken away little by little by authorities in the name of development? This development is not reflected in your standard of living or even in facilities for the colony you stay in. Further, your house as a site for the treasure is constantly vandalised by people who claim to use the treasure for development. Isn’t it gross injustice for the people in whose house the treasure has been unearthed? 

Oil had been found in the region of Ogoni in Nigeria in 1950s which resulted in crude oil exploration. Soon economic growth and big business created around it an entangled web of political intrigues, environmental problems and corruption. This prevented development of the very region where oil had been found. 

Ken Saro-Wiwa, an Ogoni by birth, was recognised as an author, journalist and television producer in the 1980s. In his work, he observed and reacted to the exploitation around him as the oil and gas industry took riches from beneath the feet of the poor Ogoni farmers, and in return left the land polluted and the people disenfranchised. 

Saro-Wiwa led a non-violent struggle with the launch of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) in 1990 — an open, grassroots community-based political movement. The movement was so effective, that by 1993 the oil companies had to pull out of Ogoni. But Saro-Wiwa paid the price for this. 

The military rulers of Nigeria framed him in a murder case and the military tribunal sentenced him to death. Saro-Wiwa said that the military rulers were doing this on behest of Shell, the multi-national oil company that had to withdraw from the Ogoni region. Human rights organisations all over the world protested against this trial and appealed for his release. Ignoring this world-wide protest, the Nigerian rulers executed Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. 

Source: NCERT CLASS XI - Political Theory: Chapter 10: Development