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THE NIGERIAN DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT
NDM PRESS RELEASE
That The World May Know
In Memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa
Wednesday, November 10, 1999
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Four years ago, news of the extra-judicial murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and
eight other Ogoni activists hit the world like a thunderbolt out of the
blues. It was the supreme sacrifice paid by these individuals for a worthy
cause - calling attention of the world to the environmental devastation of
their Ogoni communities, their economic marginalization and their need for
greater autonomy and control of their lives. At the same time, it let the
world know the true character of the brutal regime of Sani Abacha, and
removed once and for all any mis-taking of its evil nature.
On this first anniversary after the dawn of our nascent civilian
democracy, we remember Baribor Bera, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel
Gbokoo, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Paul Levura, Felix Nuate and of
course Ken Saro-Wiwa, and pledge that their fight for a true federalism in
Nigeria will never diminish.
RELEASED BY THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE NIGERIAN DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT
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Vanguard: 5th Lead story
Ogonis lament woes *Four years after Saro-Wiwa
By Sam Onwuemeodo, Port Harcourt
THE Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) which marks
today, the fourth anniversary of the hanging of its leader, Ken
Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogonis, lamented yesterday that Ogoniland
remained "polluted and our waterways fouled."
However, counsel to Ken, Mr. Femi Falana said yesterday that members
of the tribunal that sentenced the "Ogoni Nine" to death must be tried
in Ogoniland.
According to the US branch of the movement, compensation from the
Obasanjo government has also "failed to arrive," while Shell
"continues to put pressure the government to reopen operations in
Ogoni.
Ken, Baribor Bela, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbokoo, Barinem
Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Paul Levura and Felix Nuate were hanged on
November 10, 1995 in the Port Harcourt Prisons just a few days after
they were sentenced to death by a military tribunal for the murder of
four Ogoni leaders.
Their executions earned for Nigeria, particularly the Sani Abacha
regime, much hatred abroad, culminating in the suspension of Nigeria
from the Commonwealth.
The executions came while that organisation's Heads of State and
Government were meeting in New Zealand.
Nigeria will be formally rejoining the organisation later this month
in South Africa where the next meeting comes up.
However, in a statement in Chicago, USA to mark the Ogoni Eight's
death, MOSOP said: "Every day we commemorate the nine brave
environmentalists, and non-violent fighters for the Ogoni cause for an
environmentally healthy region for all Ogonis, whose lives were taken
by a crazed dictator acting in concert with Shell Oil. But on this
special day we share our memories most openly.
"News that is startling to the world, but came as no surprise to
Ogonis and their friends, recently confirmed from no less a source
than the Director of the Nigerian Environmental Ministry that the oil
companies were behind the death of the Ogoni Nine.
"We ask the world to pause in the midst of its busy existence on
November 10 to remember the unjust and cruel deaths of nine men who
through their supreme sacrifice alerted the world to the horror that
was Nigeria during those times. We ask that their memories be
honoured:
*Baribor Bera
*Saturday Dobee
*Nordu Eawo
*Daniel Gbokoo
*Barinem Kiobel
*John Kpuinen
*Paul Levura
*Felix Nuate
*Ken Saro-Wiwa
"There can be no doubt that it was this tragic event that led to the
world's awareness of the extreme and murderous repression that was
occurring in Ogoni, and conditions throughout Nigeria, situations that
continued even after the hangings.
"We are firmly convinced, and Ken Saro-Wiwa's writings leave no doubt,
that Ken was fully aware of the end to which his actions would lead
yet willingly gave of himself so that Ogonis might live a peaceful and
happy life in a healthy and productive environment. We know that his
only regrets for that grim day in 1995 would be that eight other
innocents were sacrificed in an attempt to conceal the central target,
himself, of the government's and the oil companies' rage."
Meanwhile, addressing a rally Tuesday at Bori, Ogoni, Mr. Falana said:
"Those who tried the Ogoni Nine must be tried here. The members of the
panel must be told that the wives and children of the Ogoni Nine are
crying for justice.
"Those who waged war against Ogoni people must be tried for genocide.
Those who killed Ogoni people must be tried for murder. Those who
attempted to kill Ibru and Adesanya must be tried of attempted murder.
These trials and justice must take place before leniency," he stated.
Vanguard Transmitted Wednesday, 10 November, 1999
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Vanguard: MidWeek Features
Saro-Wiwa was a trail-blazer Alfred Ilenre
By Sunday Okechukwu
Ken Saro Wiwa at an early age realised that Nigeria was an artificial
creation. As a literary man, anthropologist and activist he was quite
aware that there is no future for a nation with a multi-ethnic
composition, language and perspective.
He was a trailblazer. The awareness in the country today whereby every
section is calling for self-determination is anchored on the
foundation laid by Saro Wiwas struggle in the cause of the defence for
ethnic rights and integrity.
Today the international community is aware more than ever before about
the state of marginalisation, ecological degradation and economic
exploitation perpetrated by multinational oil prospecting companies in
the Niger/Delta. To that extent, the legacy left behind by Saro Wiwa
is yielding positive results.
What is your opinion of Kens ideals?
During the Nigerian civil war, I interacted a lot with Saro-Wiwa at
the war front. He was concerned about the prospect of Nigeria
disintegrating.
In spite of the shortcoming of the Nigerian federation, he did not
support the secession of Biafra, which he saw as the creation of
another Nigeria in another name to continue the marginalisation and
oppression of the minority tribes of the eastern region.
He believed that if the Igbos had fought for their own self
-determination as an ethnic group, without forcefully involving other
ethnic groups in the region, he would have supported them. He opposed
the unilateral decision of the Biafran authorities to involve other
ethnic groups in eastern region without their consent.
How did you feel when you heard about his execution four years ago?
Kens execution was like a dagger in the heart. A few weeks after his
arrest in 1994, my international passport was impounded by agents of
the State Security Service (SSS). I saw him while he was in detention
in Port Harcourt six times. He was always in high spirits because he
knew he was fighting for a just cause. He knew history would vindicate
him.
There are times when I think about him, especially when certain things
happen. I used to imagine how he would have articulated a position and
handled such situations. He envisaged most of the problems Nigeria is
presently going through more than anybody else I know except Chief
Anthony Enahoro.
Does this office hold any memories of him you want to recall?
Of course, this place was a Mecca of sorts for the tripod of history
makers: poets, journalists and writers, statesman and philosophers.
They all used to visit here. It was not surprising therefore that when
the evil Abacha regime cooked up charges against him and went ahead to
condemn and execute him, the entire international community, including
heads of states like President Bill Clinton of the United States of
America (USA), Prime Minister John Major of Britain and President
Nelson Mandela of South Africa were outraged.
By his death Nigeria became a pariah state. It became an object of
ridicule in the face of small nations that looked up to Nigeria.
What happened to you after Ken Saro Wiwas arrest?
When they seized my international passport, shortly after his arrest
while I was on my way to Geneva for a conference of ethnic
nationalities, it became very clear that the federal government was
after anybody who was linked to MOSOP. MOSOP was an affiliate of
EMIROAF.
However, when my first son was arrested in Lagos in April 1996, by SSS
operatives who were looking for me, it became fool hardy for me to
remain here and pretend I was safe. I was assisted by international
and religious Non -Governmental Organisations to escape out of the
country. These were people who knew how Abacha was ready to deal with
his enemies.
When I escaped from the country, I stayed in Ghana. But due to the
proximity of Ghana to Nigeria, I had to move away further. I was
always travelling to Britain, Switzerland, Belgium, South Africa and
Latin America and a lot of African countries.
There were a lot of experiences I gathered. I have been able to find
out that the ethnic minority and nationality question is not peculiar
to Nigeria alone. I was always elated and encouraged when I saw small
ethnic communities in India, Malaysia, Thailand, Argentina, Columbia
and Ecuador displaying the photograph of Ken Saro Wiwa as a hero of
ethnic minority peoples all over the world who believed that a cause
worth living for is worth fighting for, and a cause worth fighting for
is worth dying for.
I am overwhelmed whenever I saw photographs with characters and
writings I do not understand. But when the message on them is
translated, I realized that the people of Niger Delta who are the most
marginalised people in the world today are not alone in their
struggle.
What is your opinion on the Niger/Delta Development Commission Bill
President Olusegun Obasanjo has presented to the National Assembly?
Many people have already said that it is the wrong approach to solve
the problem of the Niger/Delta. I also believe it is the wrong step to
take in trying to do the right thing.
The Niger/Delta people are not babies who should be treated like this.
They have lived in their present abode for thousands of years without
having any business with people who are today deciding their fate.
I think the solution to the problem in the Niger Delta is to give the
people of the area the right to self-determination and control over
their resources. What I mean is that the six federating units in the
country should be given the right to self-determination.
It is also important that we return to the derivation revenue sharing
formula which stipulates that 50 percent of the revenue accruing from
sale of natural resources should be reserved for federating units in
whose territory the natural resources are located. The remaining 35
percent of the incoming revenue should be at the distributive centre
where it can be shared by the federating units equally, while the
remaining 15 percent should be for the central government. This is the
formula applicable in India.
After the derivation revenue sharing formula has been adopted, the
Federal Government should work out how it is going to reimburse the
excess cash it has appropriated from the federating units since 1970
when they started distorting the previous revenue sharing formula.
This reimbursement to the federating units should be paid with the
interest that has accrued on it.
How do you assess governments response in terms of providing social
amenities and infrastructure since the agitation of the oil producing
communities against environmental degradation, economic exploitation
and military oppression began?
I think the government is ignorant of what is going on there. This
also applies to the multinational corporations operating in the area.
Some people are saying government ought to be held responsible for
what has happened so far. But the question of which government you are
talking about arises. When you see a stranger digging up your fathers
land and you ask him what he is doing and he replies that it is the
government that authorized him to carry on, you then ask which
government the man is talking about.
I think some of the multinational oil corporations have come to the
realization that just getting authorization from government to operate
somebodys inherited land property is not enough. Many of the local
people you find in the Niger Delta can live without your cities.
The multinational corporations think that the people are primitive.
But these same people are by right, stakeholders in the resources of
the area.
We cannot say that there has been any physical development in the
area. All I can say is that our people have become aware that they are
being exploited.
Given the current situation whereby different sections are agitating
for one thing or the other, what do you think the future holds for
this country?
The multi-ethnic nation state has no future anywhere. For example,
Europe that created multilingual societies in Africa has monolingual,
monocultural and monospiritual societies.
Even Britain that has been keeping Scotland all these years has now
realised the futility or continuing with this policy. They have now
decided to decentralize. It is not for nothing that industrial states
like the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were dissolved and rearranged into
monolingual states.
I believe Nigeria should run a confederal system where only three
major things should bind us together as common services. These should
be common currency, foreign and military policies.
Besides these three, each ethnic group should be granted autonomy to
provide social amenities, education, health, chieftaincy matters and
agriculture.
Value Added Tax (VAT) and petroleum pump price commission should
belong to the states where they are derived from. Under no
circumstance should the federal government have a share of these
things since it has nothing to do with the federation account.
Vanguard Transmitted Wednesday, 10 November, 1999
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