President Bola Tinubu’s recent statement honouring Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8 has received mixed reactions from civil society groups.
While acknowledging their sacrifices, the groups argued that the statement fell short of addressing lingering concerns of justice and reconciliation.
The groups, including Health of Mother Earth Foundation, We the People, and Corporate Accountability and Popular Participation Africa, have demanded concrete actions to back the President’s words.
They called for complete exoneration of the Ogoni 9 and the release of the Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial Bus, confiscated by the Nigeria Customs Service 2015.
Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders were executed in 1995 for fighting environmental degradation caused by oil extraction in Ogoniland.
The Nigerian military junta headed by General Sani Abacha authorised their hanging.
The civil society groups express concerns about the government’s plans to resume oil extraction in Ogoniland despite ongoing ecological disasters and non-compliance with UNEP’s recommendations.
Instead, they urged prioritising remediation, decommissioning aged oil infrastructure, replacing lost livelihoods, and securing justice for the Ogoni people.
Twenty-seven Right Livelihood Laureates previously petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari to exonerate Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni leaders executed in 1995.
The petition highlighted the unjust kangaroo trial and Shell’s destructive environmental practices in the Niger Delta.
The groups said in the statement that, “The President’s words must be backed by concrete actions… What we continue to demand is the complete exoneration of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8.”
They emphasised that successive governments’ actions have not indicated a need for reconciliation and closure
