Teaching Comparative

Ken Saro Wiwa

Because of the references to the politics and conflict in the Niger delta, it is particularly appropriate to mark the anniversary of the death of Ken Saro Wiwa.

This article is from The Tide, one of the Nigerian dailies published by Rivers State Newspaper Corporation. (Since it is funded by the state government, the news coverage is more inclined towards the interests of the people of Rivers State.) Interestingly, this editorial was available online, but the rest of today's newspaper was not.

Ken Saro Wiwa: Twelve years after

"Twelve years after the killing of Ken Saro Wiwa and eight of his Ogoni compatriots by the Abacha Military junta, for daring to raise awareness on the development neglect in the oil rich Niger Delta, there are still unsettling questions in the Niger Delta nay Nigeria.

"Contrary to the intentions of his tormentors to permanently put to rest his fiery advocacy against the forces of oppression and indigenous colonialism, Ken continue to hunt them from his grave with endless reverberations of the need for the Nigerian state to respond to the imperatives of justice...

"Perhaps most of Nigeria problems today is because it haunted and killed its most patriotic and dedicated sons and daughters whose perception of the Nigerian state was grossly misconstrued.

"Consequently, a society that kills its best brains over flimsy accusations and excuses remains bereaved and widowed till the end of the age, and for Nigeria it will take time to replace personalities like Ken Saro Wiwa...

"Today, the neglect of the plight of the Niger Delta has turned the oil rich region to a threatre of unresolved crisis. Worse still criminal elements have taken advantage of the situation to perfect acts of strategic deception.

"As we mark the 12 anniversary of the death of this great man of our times, there is need among every stakeholder to ponder over the most practical solutions to the development crisis in the embattled Niger Delta.

"This no doubt will make Nigeria breath the air of justice."

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Labels: environment, leadership, Nigeria, politics

posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:59 AM