Street signs changed to honour Ken Saro Wiwa and Ogoni Eight

international | rights, freedoms and repression | feature

Tuesday November 11, 2008 08:24

by remember Ken Saro-Wiwa

Anniversary of Nigerian executions marked in Dublin

Sraid Ken Sarowiwa go brath!

Thirteen years ago today, on November 10th 1995, nine men from Ogoni land were hanged at Port Harcourt prison Nigeria. They had been tried in a military court by the Nigerian dictatorship. One of the men, the famous human rights campaigner Ken Saro Wiwa had been a particular thorn in the side of the Shell oil company, which found itself unable to operate in parts of the Niger Delta because of the work organisating people to peacefully resist against their destructive activities.

In stark proof of who controlled Nigeria at the time, his family had been told by Shell executives that he would be spared if he would help the company. Saro Wiwa preferred to die with honour.

Related Links: Who is Ken Saro-Wiwa? Ken on indy.ie Shell 2 Sea

Yesterday, as a mark of recognition of the profound contribution to world society made by Ken Saro Wiwa and others who resist the dominance of the big corporations, activists in Dublin changed the street signs on Adelaide Road to read Ken Saro Wiwa Street.

This simple gesture is a genuine way of commemorating the bravery and sacrifice of the Ogoni nine.

Next February, a New York court will finally hear a case brought by Ken Saro Wiwa's son, Ken Wiwa, against Shell. As Ken Wiwa told the New York Daily News "My father and eight others were executed for crimes they did not commit.They were seen as collateral damage so transnational business could continue pumping oil."

An activist who helped with the sign changing said yesterday: "It seems fitting to honour Ken Saro Wiwa this way -even if it only by concerned activists with temporary signs -since it is important that his struggle against the destruction of the Niger Delta is remembered by those who deal with energy companies like Shell, in Ireland as well as other places".

Many people still refuse to buy petrol from Shell since the executions, and this boycott continues in Ireland even though Shell now uses the Topaz brand to disguise its products. But others seem to have forgotten the history of KSW and the people of Ogoniland, and the Irish government today colludes with Shell in the destruction of the sensitive environment of the north west coast of Mayo, while doing deals which effectively hand over the country's oil and gas resources to Shell and other multi-national energy companies.

The outrage which was expressed against Shell at the time of the executions seems to have been put aside in the interests of "business of usual". So it is appropriate to name the street where Minister Eamon Ryan hands out licences for Irish oil and gas exploitation after a fighter who gave his life trying to protect his homeland from destruction and see a long term benefit for his people from their resources.

Many people have also commented that there is no straightforward mechanism to re-name streets in Dublin after deserving figures from history and culture. To this day, we have no Oscar Wilde street, no George Bernard Shaw Street, no Samuel Beckett Street, even though these figures are honoured around the world. Instead we have still have streets named after King George, Queen Victoria, and places in Britain such as Dorset and Essex. Perhaps seeing a street renamed will remind legislators that it is long overdue that the streets of Dublin reflected positive influences from history and culture, rather than the city's colonial past.

Niger Delta Awareness has organised a seminar this weekend to discuss the history of the Niger Delta and Ken Saro-Wiwa.
The Seminar will be at the Boole Lecture Room 4, University College Cork, on Saturday 15th of November 2008. 11-4PM
Contact Philip on 086 1908212 for more info or see www.nigerdeltaawareness.com for a list of speakers.

Notes:

Who was Ken Saro Wiwa ?

Ken Saro-Wiwa (October 10, 1941 – November 10, 1995) was a Nigerian author, television producer, and environmentalist. He was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority whose homelands in the Niger Delta have been targeted for oil extraction since the 1950s. Initially as spokesperson, and then as President, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent campaign against environmental damage associated with the operations of multinational oil companies, especially Shell. He was executed by the Nigerian military in 1995, his death provoking international outrage.

read more here: www.remembersarowiwa.com/lifeksw.htm

What is the court case being brought against Shell?

On October 7th, lawyers from the Center for Constitutional rights were given a court date of February 9th 2009 for their case against Shell for the company's involvement in conspiring to torture and murder opponents in a pattern of human rights abuses.

read more here:

(http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/wiwa-v.-ro...eum-d)

What street has been renamed?

Adelaide Road in Dublin was named after Queen Adelaide of England, wife of King William IV. It is the home of the Department of Natural Resources and also the main entrance of the headquarters building of Shell Exploration and Production Ireland Limited.

Is this the first street named after KSW?

A proposal to name a street in the Nigerian Federal Capital, Abuja, after Ken Saro Wiwa caused controversy recently. Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka said that streets should not be named after national figures until those named in honour of the dictator General Sani Abacha were re-named.
Read more here: http://www.champion-newspapers.com/news/article4_071108.htm

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