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About the Episode
In 2006, Nigerian-British sculptor, Sokari Douglas-Camp, was commissioned by human and environment rights organization, Platform, to create a work of art in honour of the memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Douglas-Camp created a life-sized replica of a Nigerian steel bus, called ‘Battle Bus: Living Memorial for Ken Saro-Wiwa’. It was an artistic symbol of movement and change.
In 2015, 20 years after the execution of the Ogoni Nine, Platform planned to commemorate the Ogoni Nine execution and wanted Douglas-Camp’s Battle Bus to feature at the event held in Bori, Saro-Wiwa’s hometown. But when the battle bus arrived at the Lagos Seaport that year, it was impounded by the port authorities.
It is now 2025, nearly 30 years since the executions happened. Presidents have come and gone; Niger-Delta resistance has, arguably, become more violent and more commercially motivated; public memory of the Ogoni Nine has atrophied, and the battle bus, an artistic work crafted to honour the memory of the Ogoni Nine, is still under arrest by the Nigerian authorities. What is it about Saro-Wiwa that continues to aggravate and possibly even terrify the Nigerian ruling establishment? How have the Ogoni people been able to come to terms with the execution of the Ogoni Nine, and deal with the unresolved environmental crisis caused by oil exploration till this day? What does the crisis in Ogoni and the Niger Delta more broadly tell us about what it means to be Nigerian?
In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers.
Read the Episode 7 transcript.
About the Show
Our second season focuses on the life and legacy of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and one of nine non-violent Ogoni activists the General Sani Abacha military government brutally executed in 1995.
The Ogoni are an ethnic group situated in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. For years, they have suffered pollution and environmental degradation stemming from crude oil extraction on their land. Saro-Wiwa’s protests against oil companies such as Shell, including his leadership of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), frustrated the Abacha government, which relied heavily on oil exports.
Read our introduction to Season 2.
Host
Wale Lawal is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Republic.
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Notes on Episode 7
In researching Episode 7 of The Republic, we made use of the following sources.
Books
Hunt, Timothy. The Politics of Bones: Dr. Owens Wiwa And The Struggle For Nigeria’s Oil. McClelland & Stewart, 2005 (originally published 2005).
Kashi, Ed and Watts, Michael (ed). Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in The Niger Delta. Power House Books, 2010 (originally published 2008).
Saro-Wiwa Jr, Ken. In the Shadow of a Saint: A Son’s Journey to Understand His Father’s Legacy. Steerforth, 2001 (originally published 2001).
News/Journal Articles
Agbalama, Deborah. ‘FG Reaffirms Commitment to Ogoni Land Remediation,’ Channels TV, 2024.
Austin, Rod. ‘Ogoni Widows Testify at the Hague Over Shell’s Alleged Complicity in Killings,’ The Guardian. 2019.
Douglas, Oronto and Okonta, Ike. ‘The Niger Delta: A People and Their Environment,’ Verso, 2018.
Ekpali, Saint. ‘The Niger Delta Community Devastated by Yet Another Shell Oil Spill,’ Open Democracy, 2023.
Egobiambu, Emmanuel. ‘Tinubu Honours Ogoni Nine, Promises To Address “Historical Grievances”,’ Channels TV, 2024.
Hooligan, Anna. ‘Ogoni Nine: Nigerian Widows Lose Case Against Oil Giant Shell,’ BBC, 2022.
Osuoka, Isaac. ‘Shell’s Exit Scam,’ Africa Is a Country, 2024.
Media
Amnesty International. The Hague: Esther Kiobel Vows to Continue Her Campaign for Justice. 2022.
Amnesty International. Nigeria: Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta – Report. 2009.
Amnesty International. Nigeria: Negligence in the Niger Delta: Decoding Shell and Eni’s Poor Record on Oil Spills. 2018.
Amnesty International. US: Supreme Court Ruling on Shell in the Niger Delta Severely Limits Access to Justice in Human Rights Cases. 2013.
Amnesty International. No Progress: An Evaluation of the Implementation of Unep’s Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland, Three Years On.
Britannica. Military regimes, 1983–99.
Canadian Council for Refugees. Ogoni Refugees.
Cornell Law School. Alien Tort Statute.
Council on Foreign Relations. MEND: The Niger Delta’s Umbrella Militant Group.
District Of Columbia District Court. GREENSPAN v. EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR U.S. ATTORNEYS et al Document 43: Motion for Summary Judgment, Attachment 1.
Earth Rights International. Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Shell.
Kiobel, Esther. ‘I Will Not Stop Fighting for Justice Until My Husband’s Name Is Cleared,’ Amnesty International, 2024.
Minority Rights Group. Nigeria: ‘Water Was the Source of Life; It Is Now the Cause of Death.
Osborne, Sarah. Sabotage, Lawsuits, and Outrage.
Parliament UK. Memorandum submitted by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
Shell Nigeria. Shell and Milieudefensie Settle Long-Running Case Over Oil Spills in Nigeria.
United Nations Environment Programme. Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland.
Episode 7 makes use of archival footage from the following sources:
Activist Slams Shell’s CEO Over Alleged Crimes in Nigeria. (courtesy Daily Times Nigeria / Facebook)
Body of President Laid to Rest in His Home State. (courtesy AP Archive / YOUTUBE)
New Zealand: Commonwealth Decides on Actions Against Nigeria. (courtesy AP Archive / YOUTUBE)
New Zealand: Nigeria Is Suspended From the Commonwealth. (courtesy AP Archive / YOUTUBE)
Sani Abacha’s Execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa (1995).(courtesy Nigeria in Videos / YOUTUBE)