Ken Saro-Wiwa
Acting
Biography
Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) was a Nigerian writer, teacher, television producer, and social rights activist. He was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in the Niger Delta whose homeland, Ogoniland, has been targeted for crude oil extraction since the 1950s and has suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping. Initially as a spokesperson, and then as the president, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation of the land and waters of Ogoniland by multiple international oil companies, especially the Royal Dutch Shell company. He criticized the Nigerian government for its reluctance to enforce environmental regulations on the foreign petroleum companies operating in the area. At the peak of his non-violent campaign, he was tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly masterminding the murder of Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government meeting, and was hanged in 1995 by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. His execution triggered international outrage and led to Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for more than three years.
Known For
This documentary first aired on British TV in May 1994 during the height of the Ogoni conflict in which a small Nigerian minority, the Ogoni, rose up against the oppression and exploitation perpetrated by Shell in their collaboration with the Nigerian military government and powerful Western economic interests. The peaceful Ogoni protests were violently ended by the military government in 1995 with the unlawful hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer, journalist and activist for the Ogoni people. Saro-Wiwa succeeded in reaching out to the international community to put pressure on those holding the Ogoni hostage. In the end, he may not have achieved all the goals set out by the Ogoni, but he drew attention to social grievances which were falsely believed to be exclusive to the colonial era.
The Drilling Fields
A poetic tribute to writer, poet and environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed alongside eight other activists for opposing the environmental damage done in their oil-rich homeland, Ogoni.
I Am More Dangerous Dead
This documentary first aired in Britain in May 1994 during the height of the Ogoni conflict in which a small Nigerian minority, the Ogoni, rose up against the oppression and exploitation perpetrated by Shell in their collaboration with the Nigerian military government and powerful Western economic interests. The peaceful Ogoni protests were violently ended by the military government in 1995 with the unlawful hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer, journalist and activist for the Ogoni people. Saro-Wiwa succeeded in reaching out to the international community to put pressure on those holding the Ogoni hostage. In the end, he may not have achieved all the goals set out by the Ogoni, but he drew attention to social grievances which were falsely believed to be exclusive to the colonial era.