In representing the Ogoni peoples of Nigeria in a
struggle against devastation of their lands by multinational oil corporations,
Ken Saro-Wiwa spoke for the impoverished many, against the empowered few. For
his efforts, Saro-Wiwa was arrested in May, 1994 in Nigeria, on what many
believe to have been spurious charges. On November 10, 1995, a Nigerian
military-appointed tribunal executed nine Ogoni leaders. Kenule Beeson
Saro-Wiwa was among them. His final statement, reprinted here, was never heard
by the tribunal.
My lord,
We all stand before history. I am a man of peace, of
ideas. Appalled by the denigrating poverty of my people who live on a richly
endowed land, distressed by their political marginalization and economic
strangulation, angered by the devastation of their land, their ultimate
heritage, anxious to preserve their right to life and to a decent living, and
determined to usher to this country as a whole a fair and just democratic
system which protects everyone and every ethnic group and gives us all a valid
claim to human civilization, I have devoted my intellectual and material
resources, my very life, to a cause in which I have total belief and from which
I cannot be blackmailed or intimidated. I have no doubt at all about the
ultimate success of my cause, no matter the trials and tribulations which I and
those who believe with me may encounter on our journey. Neither imprisonment
nor death can stop our ultimate victory.
I repeat that we all stand before history. I and my
colleagues are not the only ones on trial. Shell is here on trial and it is as
well that it is represented by counsel said to be holding a watching brief. The
Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come
and the lessons learnt here may prove useful to it for there is no doubt in my
mind that the ecological war that the Company has waged in the Delta will be
called to question sooner than later and the crimes of that war be duly
punished. The crime of the Company's dirty wars against the Ogoni people will
also be punished.
On trial also is the Nigerian nation, its present
rulers and those who assist them. Any nation which can do to the weak and
disadvantaged what the Nigerian nation has done to the Ogoni, loses a claim to
independence and to freedom from outside influence. I am not one of those who
shy away from protesting injustice and oppression, arguing that they are
expected in a military regime. The military do not act alone. They are
supported by a gaggle of politicians, lawyers, judges, academics and
businessmen, all of them hiding under the claim that they are only doing their
duty, men and women too afraid to wash their pants of urine.
We all stand on trial, my lord, for by our actions we
have denigrated our Country and jeopardized the future of our children. As we
subscribe to the sub-normal and accept double standards, as we lie and cheat
openly, as we protect injustice and oppression, we empty our classrooms,
denigrate our hospitals, fill our stomachs with hunger and elect to make
ourselves the slaves of those who ascribe to higher standards, pursue the
truth, and honour justice, freedom, and hard work. I predict that the scene
here will be played and replayed by generations yet unborn. Some have already
cast themselves in the role of villains, some are tragic victims, some still
have a chance to redeem themselves. The choice is for each individual.
I predict that the denoument of the riddle of the
Niger delta will soon come. The agenda is being set at this trial. Whether the
peaceful ways I have favoured will prevail depends on what the oppressor
decides, what signals it sends out to the waiting public.
In my innocence of the false charges I face Here, in my
utter conviction, I call upon the Ogoni people, the peoples of the Niger delta,
and the oppressed ethnic minorities of Nigeria to stand up now and fight
fearlessly and peacefully for their rights. History is on their side. God is on
their side. For the Holy Quran says in Sura 42, verse 41: "All those that
fight when oppressed incur no guilt, but Allah shall punish the
oppressor." Come the day.
Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa
