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International Campaigns: Nigeria Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-1995) In the morning on November 10, 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa - along with eight other environmental activists - was hanged by the Nigerian government of then dictator Sani Abacha. This act of murder on the part of the Nigerian dictatorship will never be forgotten, nor will the role that Shell Oil played in supporting the Abacha dictatorship. Ken Saro-Wiwa was a Nigerian poet, writer and the leader of a minority ethnic group in Nigeria called the Ogoni. His commitment to nonviolent protest of the environmental destruction created by Shell Oil and the Nigerian government brought him and his cause world notoriety. He mobilized tens of thousands in the Niger Delta to stand up against the environmental destruction wrought by Shell's oil drilling. For this, he was arrested, charged with a trumped up crime and hanged. He wrote from prison: Whether I live or die is immaterial. It is enough to know that there are people who commit time, money and energy to fight this one evil among so many others predominating worldwide. If they do not succeed today, they will succeed tomorrow. We must keep on striving to make the world a better place for all of mankind - each one contributing his bit, in his or her own way. Ken Saro-Wiwa's legacy lives on. His call for nonviolent protest of oppression earned justified comparisons to Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club