A Month and A Day & Letters by Ken Saro-Wiwa is about Saro-Wiwa’s experience being arrested in 1993 by the Nigerian police, his ideas, and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People. Saro-Wiwa was accused of killing four men during a riot, although obviously innocent, he was found guilty and sentenced to jail, until he was eventually hung in 1995.
Shell (the gas company) was destroying the lands of the Ogoni people along the Niger Delta where there is a lot of oil reserves. Saro-Wiwa sees this area along the Niger Delta for its richness in other things besides oil. Shell is a very wealthy company, they should be wealthy enough to realize the value of the environment they are destroying to extract petroleum.
Most of the book is Ken Saro-Wiwa’s personal recalls of being imprisoned and what went on in his head and around him while he was awaiting an unknown death. I really admire his strong mindset while going through all of this, he sticks to his ideas and what he believes is right for the Ogoni people while he is imprisoned. As stated in A Month and A Day & Letters, “it fell to my lot to rehabilitate the returning Ogoni, and I did so without worrying about what role each had played in the Biafran debacle” (Saro-Wiwa 2012, page 40). In this quote he is in jail recalling memories of when he set up the Ogoni Development Association, it seems that even when his life is in danger he is thinking of helping others. His people have no electricity, no pipe-born water, and no job opportunities while the wealth of their resources is being exploited and taken away by these foreign corporations. The voice of the Ogoni people is not being heard, all they want is their freedom and autonomy, as well as the restoration and protection of their lands in the Niger Delta.
Question: Why was there no representation of the Ogoni people before all the associations were started? Why does the government in Nigeria fail to protect their people?
In Ken Saro-Wiwa’s autobiography, he discusses the events leading up to his execution in 1995. Ken was a political activist in Nigeria, standing up for the Ogoni people after the Niger River Delta had been destroyed due to irresponsible oil drilling practices by Shell. He begins his book with the story of his fourth arrest in three months. In chapter one he discusses how active Nigeria’s youth were in his political activism, saying “Ogoni youths showed far more solidarity, far more courage, than I had credited them with” after over 500 of them showed up to the offices of SSS to track him down and question his arrest (16). On the following page, he says, “to die fighting to right the wrong would be the greatest gift of life!” (17). This was mirrored in the movie we saw in class today, in which a speaker stated that they would never cease fighting, because to surrender was to be killed, so why not die fighting for what you believe in?
My question is how is this mirrored in today’s politics in the United States? Are protests regarding the Trump administration, Women’s rights, and police brutality (and other issues) similar to these non-violent protests? Are the outcomes much different, with youth being killed (in smaller numbers) for standing up for their beliefs and the rights of others and themselves?
A Month and a Day, is the memoir of Ken Saro Wiwa’s experience of the month and a day that he was imprisoned for his rebellious acts against the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida and the Shell oil company. Ken stresses multiple times that his concerns are for the “fragile ecosystem of the Niger Delta” yet he is still hung for crimes he did not commit. The obvious corruption in the Nigerian government and oil companies is disgusting. The environmental racism and oppression of the Nigerian people is appallingly obvious. Shell is allowed by the government, and even protected by the military to continue drilling for oil and completely destroy the Niger Delta ecosystem. This drilling has not only killed every living thing in the water but has everything but killed the people of the delta. Ken states, “I am appalled that this rich company, with the abundance of knowledge and material resources available to it, should treat the area with such callous indifference. I consider the loss of the Niger Delta a loss to all mankind and therefore regard Shell’s despoliation of the area as a crime to all humanity.” The situation that Shell, the oil companies, and the government has put these people in has caused them to react in the most extreme way. In the movie Sweet Crude, one of the speakers mentioned that these people protest every day and that people lose their lives for their cause every single day. There cause of trying to take back their resources, and clean up their ecosystems enough for a healthy life. The basic needs of life. I see their plight as our own. We disconnect ourselves so much from these people for so many reasons, but we must realize that the use of oil and products that marginalize and oppress human beings and landscapes is a crime to all humanity. We as SD students preach about climate change awareness yet we don’t do anything. We still support these companies that are committing such terrible crimes. We say we want to fight to take back our resources and clean up our ecosystems for a healthy life for us and future generations, yet what protests have we organized. Ken wrote something that really resonated with me. He wrote, “the writer cannot be a mere storyteller; he cannot be a mere teacher; he cannot merely X-ray society’s weakness, its ills, its perils. He or she must be actively involved shaping its present and its future.” Climate Change Action is a cause worth our time and energy. No matter what we feel, we as students are privileged. We have a lot more power than we think.
So my questions are, what are we going to do with that power? Are we going to allow our Earth’s resources to be used up and the continued oppression of different groups of people? What would Ken Saro Wiwa think of our action or un-action? Would he advocate for the organization of students to make a difference in our own community?
When reading A Month and A Day by Ken Saro-Wiwa, the image of oil flares lighting up the Nigerian night sky from “Sweet Crude” remained etched in my brain. The documentary we watched in class really got me ready for how brutally honest this book is. Following his arrest, Ken Saro-Wiwa was not allowed to speak to his lawyer, eat a simple dinner, or even know what he was really being arrested for. On page 14, during the night drive Saro-Wiwa is told that he is safely in the hands of the Nigerian Police force, but the officers will not give him their names or the name of their destination. Our author reflects back on how his family will feel about his incarceration. After a quick stop for gas, the bus was back on its way to Lagos.
Once he arrived at Lagos Ken was still being mistreated, having gone all day and night without food or water or proper indoor plumbing. After a couple days, Ken finally got fed. On page 29, one of the diners in the restaurant told our author that he should be freed soon since all of the elections results were nullified. This bit of false hope made me even more mad at the people keeping our author incarcerated. On page 44 Saro-Wiwa, while talking about how oil was at the center of the Nigerian Civil War, offers his audience this: “The notion that oil-bearing areas can provide the revenue of the country and yet be denied a proper share of that revenue because it is perceived that the inhabitants are few in number is unjust, immoral, unnatural, and ungodly.”
At the end of his excerpt, he puts out a call to action specifically aimed at “Nigerian elites” to “play fair” and start supporting the people of their country rather than just themselves. He explains further in saying that the Ogoni people have been mistreated and marginalized against ever since Shell started mining for oil in Nigeria in 1957. The lands and waters that make up Ogoni land have been absolutely devastated. They can no longer drink the water that has sustained life here for hundreds of thousands of years, their nets no longer bring in bounties of fish, parts their lands can no longer produce vegetables or grains suitable for human consumption.
Questions: How long will it take to repair these environments? Will they ever be the same? How can you clean up after spilling oil once a day for 25 years? How can anyone go to a place like this and destroy not only an entire culture’s way of life, but even the beaches and rivers that they are dependent upon?
Both the movie we watched “Sweet Crude,” and the book “A Month and a Day,”emphasize the suffering of the people in Nigeria. It emphasizes the impact that oil has on the people and the different social inequalities it results in. A quote that stood out to me at the beginning of the book when he was being arrested was “Injustice stalks the land like a tiger on the prowl” (pg 8). I thought this was interesting to think about and imagine the imagery that is involved. Environmental racism is a big problem in today’s society. Ken Saro-Wiwa fought with the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) against oil companies such as Shell who were suspected of working with the Nigerian government in order to extract oil without compensating the local community. The area is being devasted by the impacts of the oil drilling. The U.S. is responsible for buying some of this oil from Shell thus allowing for the injustice to continue. The movie showed that the only thing the people wanted was to not have to suffer from these injustices and that they are treated fairly. I feel like the movie was very eye-opening because by just reading the book it is difficult to picture what is going on but the movie put a face to the movement by talking with all of the locals and getting their opinions.
What can the US do to help stop the injustices happening? Would the reduction of oil purchased that comes from this region help? What should the Nigerian government be doing differently?
Human rights activism is naturally heavily intertwined with environmental activism, as peoples’ existence is dependent on the environment that they are situated in, being part of the environment as well. Therefore, our focus to mitigate these issues needs to be intersectional. Ken Saro-Wiwa did just that, advocating for the Ogoni People, a minority group that is being disproportionately affected by the greed and devastation that oil has fueled, with riches under their feet that they are not allowed to reap and benefit from. Saro-Wiwa saw firsthand Babangida’s cruel intentions, which I would infer to have been a major catalyst for his passionate criticism of this ruler, being lied to and subjected to things he thought were morally apprehensive. Saro-Wiwa was well off in terms of financial security, it is safe to assume that many people in similar positions would not be as outspoken and involved in seeking justice, especially against such a militant government that has killed many to assert their dominance in continuing their agenda at whatever costs.
The mentality of the educated Ogoni was always to keep close to the government of the day in order to pick up crumbs from the master’s table. Accordingly, although Ojukwu’s rebel Biafran government was hostile to the Ogoni as a people, the educated few yet found pickings by groveling at the feet of the administration. (51)
This criticism is valuable to analyze systems in place that perpetuate injustices, in which people are subjected to feed into, whether that be through greed or force. This criticism has been applied to sustainable development itself. A question that I have is how does one go about resisting the urge to fit in and become financially stable, if it means one must knowingly turn their backs on their own morals, how does that psychologically affect someone, being subjected to reject what they believe to be right, is it fair to argue that perhaps these feelings of passion were only fleeting and superficial if they can be rejected, or do these systems physically and psychologically manipulate and in the end have control of ones autonomy?
Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni struggle for self determination and control over natural resources was heavily influenced by the environmental degradation caused by Shell and other companies involved in oil exploration. Because the Ogoni people depended on the land and its waters for the sustenance of their livelihoods, the emergence of organizations to organize and voice their opinions opened up avenues for the mobilization of masses. “…I have used the term ‘Ogoni’ in preference to ‘Ogoniland’, which is fast becoming current; this is because to the Ogoni, the land and the people are one and are expressed as such in our local languages” (Saro-Wiwa, 3). This quote reflects the important connection between the Ogoni people and the land on which they live, so much so that the language of the people symbolically interchanges the word “Ogoni” in reference to the land and its people. This connection drives the youth of Ogoni to organize resistance against further environmental degradation at the hands of oil companies. Despite their struggles, many companies have failed to give compensation to the Ogoni people, whether the compensation be in the form of natural resource control, money to be used in development, or to directly restore environmental damages in the Niger Delta.
The Ogoni people have organized to defend their rights to expression, compensation, and freedom of expression. Even with international attention, peaceful protests and demonstrations have often been met with violence. In the documentary “Sweet Crude”, a militant group known as MEND discussed that since non-violent approaches have not changed environmental conditions or guaranteed communities adequate compensation, MEND must react by violent means in order to gain the attention for needed change. Can violent and intentional refusal of rights by the Nigerian government in collaboration with Shell and other companies be combated by community militant resistance? How do violent reactions to slow change/ reactions by powerful entities hinder, expedite, or open avenues to resolutions/ dialogue between differing stakeholders?
In seeing how Ken Saro-Wiwa led a movement for the survival of Ogoni people in response to human rights abuses from oil corporations such as Shell and Chevron, in addition to the militarized Nigerian government under the rule of dictator Babangida, one arrives at a point of contention. It was through the history of the slave trade in Nigeria and colonial rule that the corrupt power occurred and lasted through the late 20th century and how the neocolonial presence remained in Nigeria with the extraction of oil and the killing of Ogoniland’s ecology and people through the exploitative drilling. However, Ken Saro-Wiwa’s voice was heard by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland and other organized assistance throughout Europe. Is there a contradiction between the Ogoni people’s autonomy being supported by the organizations in Europe while the very colonial powers and transnational oil corporations which devastated the Ogoni people and way of life are from Europe as well? Ken Saro Wiwa later stated, “Ultimately, however, the fault lies at the door of the British Government” (179).
Ultimately, Ken Saro-Wiwa gave his life for the emancipation of the Ogoni people. His final words before his hanging are as follows: “Lord take my soul, but the struggle continues” (174). It was said in the film Sweet Crude how Ken Saro-Wiwa’s death for his pursuit of freeing the Ogoni people spurred further motivation and strengthened their argument for justice. He was also quoted, “We must keep on striving to make the world a better place for all mankind. Each one contributing his bit, in his or her own way” (179). In speaking for the greater good of humanity, Ken Saro-Wiwa also established non-violence at the center of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People. Yet, it was also revealed in the film Sweet Crude how similarly mistreated indigenous people in the Niger Delta formed the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, took up arms to fight with violence for their freedom, fair share of oil profits, and for the sake of a livable environment. How would the oil corporations have responded differently if the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was to have used non-violence tactics similar to Ken Saro-Wiwa?
As I was reading about Ken Saro-Wiwa experience of being detained and arrested. How he went more than 24 hours with out being feed, the long trips to different holding areas that he experienced. How he got the benefit of not being in the guard room but even then it was not great conditions. His story as a further read I also was think about the in the movie “Sweet Crude” the activism that was occurring, how many people were standing up for what they believe. The passion that he help initiate was flowing into the things that were occurring in the Ogoni community. But then think again back to the “Sweet Crude” the questions of, How can an outside corporation make such an negative impact on the communities in Nigeria? Is this issue only effecting a small population that the government is not apart of? How can that representation for the communities be found?
In the film Sweet Crude, I found it particularly interesting how one of the major voices in the movement emphasized how there’ll dialogue and dialogue and dialogue but none of that really means anything if there’s still inaction. Unfortunately, we live in an era of many challenges but habitual inaction to solve those issues, with some those issues being brought up in the recent IPCC report. This particular statement made by the woman in the film resonates with me because we can form discussion groups and spend sleepless nights brainstorming ideas and sulking over the majority’s lack of action but the issues at hand require immediate response. Furthermore, Ken Saro-Wiwa’s life, and those men and women alike him, is a perfect example of sacrificing everything for a cause just like some had expressed from the film. While the issues discussed in film and in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s differ from our‘s and I wasn’t able to be present for the recent SD IPCC meeting, I was wondering if Ken Saro-Wiwa were still with us today and was at a meeting similar to the one earlier this week what would be his major suggestion to promote action?
Viewing the film Sweet Crude and reading through Ken Saro-Wiwa’s struggles within A Month and a Day made me think about activism in the United States (acts of non-violent protest and direct violence as protest). Specifically, I couldn’t help but think about how body politics still play into protest and activism; in the US especially, protesting can be a very dangerous action for certain identities due to the response from the systems and governments that oppress them. Think about how different responses were to Black Lives Matter’s peaceful protests (which unfortunately turned violent as there is always a heavy police presence) versus the responses to the Women’s March on Washington or even the response to non-violent gathering by the survivors/supporters of the Parkland high school shooting (March for Our Lives movement).
Did body politics/aspects of protester’s identity play into the responses to activism showcased in Sweet Crude and Saro-Wiwa’s book? Much like we often have the idea of a “perfect victim” (a mythical norm if you will), is there a conceived notion of the “perfect protester”? What does that look like? Furthermore, how do we diverge from this and accept different forms of protest and begin to understand why violence/non-violence may be necessary to affect change?
Through the film Sweet Crude, and the chapters from Ken Saro-Wiwa’s A Month and a Day, we get a dualistic view on how protests have been carried out in Nigeria’s Delta region, and how said protests have been reacted upon. Both drew national attention to a rather persistent struggle in the region…that somehow, the 10th largest oil refining area in the world refuses to distribute the accrued wealth amongst the area it was extracted from, much less the people who are still having their livelihoods severely impacted. Saro-Wiwa highlighted that the greatest desire amongst this resource poverty was for the Ogoni people to have agency political control over their own areas, and especially over industries whose extraction practices affect their people’s livelihoods. Nigeria’s Delta had suffered a lack of autonomy under colonialism, and these practices continued under the leaders that were instilled and took over. Sweet Crude makes note of the same, and brings a more emotionally stirring picture to our minds, as we see the wrecked and ravaged beaches and rivers where sludge and Shell reign supreme. This reminds me of how we push our industrial waste onto minority communities and nuclear to Native American tribes here in the states.
The methodologies shown in the movie and promoted in the book were vastly different; Saro-wiwa was non-violent to the letter, making the specific and necessary demands with a pacifistic hand. In the movie we saw peaceful protests, and a peaceful (but still very legally frowned upon) kidnapping. From the side of industry and the government, force was always at hand. Such is the way here too, is it not? I suppose after reading and watching my burning question remains this;
If, in the fight to preserve the capital gains of industry, corporations and governments have, are, and will continue to use violent force to maintain their agendas, to what extent and in what ways should we resist? Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed for his non-violent approach. The film talks about violence against communities and deaths on a near daily basis. International attention isn’t putting enough pressure on to solve the issue. So how should we approach and assist those fighting for their rights to health, culture, and livelihood under the loom of big business? Small group militias can’t do much to combat military forces these days besides waving a hostage or two around, and peacefully organizing can also get you on a government watch/hit list. Should the people of the delta continue on with increased fever in hopes of eventually wearing Shell down?
A Month and a Day by Ken Saro-Wiwa is a journal he wrote from his time in captivity. His writings really highlight the struggle for humans rights for indigenous people and the corrupt governments in place withholding basic needs from humans. It also brings up the discussion of non violent and violent protests and their decision to remain non- violent. We also see in the film Sweet Crude the people of the Niger Delta for the most part remaining non – violent. I think it is hard for me to say whether non violent or violence is the answer since I have never been in a position like any of these people, and it would be unfair to sit here and say which way they should respond as for every situation is different. I am curious to know what protesting techniques the class has heard of or used that have been successful and do you think there are new ways of protesting that can be discover? What is our role in wanting to empower these people and wanting to support those whose rights are taken away and don’t have a voice?
In reading A Month and A Day, and also in watching Sweet Crude, I was very struck by the nature of activism that both Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other advocates of the Niger River Delta engage in. Saro-Wiwa says on page 17 of the book that “To die fighting to right the wrong would be the greatest gift of life! Yes, the gift of life.” An interviewee in the film echoed this sentiment, stating that he would die for the cause. It brings perspective to activism. What sorts of activism do we as students engage in? What lessons can we learn from people whose causes are matters of life and death, and how does their willingness to die interact with their commitments to violence or non-violence? What is it to be truly committed to a cause?
Both in the movie “Sweet Crude” and in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s book A Month and a Day the story of environmental degradation caused by oil extraction affecting the Nigerian people is told. In Saro-Wiwa’s book, the struggle for human and environmental right of the Ogoni people is highlighted and really calls attention to the opposition indigenous people face. Saro-Wiwa advocated for people who previously struggle to gain a voice, mobilized them, and exemplified non-violent tactics with extreme support from the youth community. As he said on page 16, “Ogoni youths showed far more solidarity, far more courage, than I had credited them with” regarding how they strongly contested and question his arrest 500 strong.
My question regards how this movement in the Nigerian Delta can be compared to and learned from in regards to pipeline installation in the United States. These pipelines are often contested by Native American groups, non-violently but with limited success. How could these movements in the US learn from Ken Saro-Wiwa’s leadership in the Nigerian Delta? Are there mistakes he made that we can learn from? What differences are there in the two movements?
In sweet Crude the struggle of the Nigerian Delta people was shown as they fought for fair treatment by the oil companies. While they started with non violent techniques they eventually became radicalized switching to kidnapping and militarized. My question is are there limits to nonviolence is there a time when violent action must be taken? Then have been a number of times where violent action has been preached. An example of this is the civil rights movement with Martin Luther King jr preaching for non violence and Malcolm X preaching a more militant form of trying to achieve rights. Are there times when violent action goes along with non-violent action in order to achieve what might not otherwise be achieve able?
In the 4th Chapter of A Month And A Day, Saro-Wiwa makes several remarks strike as particularly applicable for American society today. Especially when he quotes his book On A Darkling Plain. “In spite of my hesitations about all that surrounded the last civil war, I wish to pay tribute to the men and women on both sides who fought against injustice, against hypocrisy and humbug as they saw it. We must ensure the those who died fighting, shall not have died in vain.” (p.43, Saro-Wiwa)
What if we approached our public discourse with the mentality established in the first section? Would this honoring of both sides and acknowledging that they are fighting for what they see to be true be healing for our society? How do we validate the experiences of groups of people who feel persecuted by each other? Should we? Is that to much to ask of persecuted people? Can we move forward with discourse while continuing to not do this work of acknowledgment and validation?
He continues “I call upon the Nigerian elite to play fair by all Nigerian communities, to allow scientific methodology to replace sleight-of-hand as an instrument of social engineering and to show compassion to the less privileged of our society so that we may achieve a better Nigeria and hand over a meaningful legacy and a beautiful country to the future.” (p.45, Saro-Wiwa)
What does he mean by scientific methodology, and would this approach be applicable for America? What does compassion framed in the context of handing over “a beautiful country to the future” look like? Beautiful country in what way? How do we reconcile all the different ways that people envision their version of a beautiful country?
The first few chapters of A Month and a Day are about the exhausting journey of Saro-Wiwa in his detainment by the Nigerian police. He also recollects and accounts for what is going on with the battle between the Ogoni people and the Carpetbaggers of Nigeria. He explains that Lagos became increasingly populated when the Delta oil market had been cornered by the nations rulers. Oil began to be transferred from the Delta to Lagos disregarding groups like the Ogoni whose land was sitting on the oil. (27) He acknowledges also the irony of the roads on his way to Benin city as being rickety and unpaved when the area is rich with oil. All of the petrodollars are transferred to the arid parts of the country to build more efficient express ways. (16) Since the Ogoni people along with some other minority groups are the ones sitting on the oil, should they be entitled to it? Or should there be no oil drilling in the first place in the delta (or at least highly minimized)? If the Ogoni became entitled to petrodollars how would it affect their communities?
I believe that having the background knowledge of the Sweet Crude documentary is essential to reading Ken Saro-Wiwa’s piece. It gives the text an erie, solemn feel as you read the process of abduction, questioning and the travel away from his home.
The dire situation of the Ogoni peoples encourages Ken to participate in activism that he very well knows could take his life. He hints to this on page 14 as he is traveling to Lagos, and pictures being mugged by the corrupt Nigerian Police force.
I cannot help but to question if there is a role foreigners could play in this corrupt battlefield of resource depletion and the exploitation of a homeland that takes advantage of a certain ethnic group. What action could we take as members of a democracy that could make a real impact on the struggle that Ken Saro-Wiwa gave his life to?
Is there more than voting for a government with stricter regulation on international corporations and their environmental and cultural degradation? Are there ideas for a grass roots movement that could connect a small community in the States to the Ogoni people?
How, in the future, do we not sit across the globe and watch as injustice takes place?
In the film, Sweet Crude a group of people in the Niger Delta protesting the presence of oil companies on their land. These oil companies used and destroyed the natural resources of the delta that the people relied on. Ken Saro-Wiwa was one of the leaders of this resistance who was executed in 1995. His legacy of non-violent protest lasted only a short time before the people of this area turned to violent means of protest due to desperation. The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) began destroying oil company property and kidnapping foreign oil workers in order to bring attention and urgency to their demands. These actions were covered by global media with language that labeled these individuals as rebels and the reason our (the U.S.) oil prices may go up. There was little to no mention of why these people were doing what they were doing. This leads me to the question:
Is it acceptable to use violence to get what you need in order to survive? And if so, at what point is it acceptable?
As I viewed the film “Sweet Crude” and read Ken Saro-Wiwa’s descriptions about the all-encompassing death and destruction brought into Nigeria by the oil industry as well as their community response, I just kept marveling at the community’s resilience and strength. I can barely stay driven enough to fight every day for environmental issues, especially when I feel like there’s nothing to be done in the face of such huge issues like climate change, corporate irresponsibility, etc. To face a huge international oil corporation every day and fight them with such passion as the Ogoni people did is inspiring. I credit some of this passion to the strong base of young adults that fought. The movement reminded me in a way of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and the power that accompanied that.
My question is- What is it about youth that can cause such powerful revolution? Is this “youthful power” one of the reasons that the older generation tries to label young peoples’ ideas as naive, over zealous, etc? Why are we “trained” to be complacent in a society if we have the potential capacity to save it and how do we counteract the status quo without becoming tainted by it?
In the documentary “Sweet Crude” we see how Shell has used the Nigerian delta for its rich oil deposits. However this was not the goal of the film-maker when she traveled to Nigeria, but rather this story of the peoples of the delta caught her attention. If it weren’t for journalists like her we would not get peoples perspective on these environmental and social issues. We would only get the government or Shells narrative about how the resistance was negatively impacting oil output. The international economic based media labeled the delta people as “rebel militants” and the film maker showed us a strong people that were desperate to have their voice heard.
So my questions are, how do you think the labels affected international reaction to the delta peoples actions? In light of the case with the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, another journalist that shown light on stories that the state found unfavorable to their image, was killed by the new crown Prince to silence him. Do you think that actions against Jamal will have lasting impacts on journalists that show different perspectives that don’t align with the state? or will this marter fire up a new wave of muck-rakers?
In A Month and A Day & Letters, Ken Saro-Wiwa gives a detailed account of his experience of the clashing turmoil of the intrusion of Shell oil on the Ogoni people’s land and the injustice from the corrupt Nigerian government. Saro-Wiwa in his book speaks primarily about his experiences of major events regarding arrests, protests, and the important details in between that all contribute to the timeline of his activism for the Ogoni people. Early on in the book, Ken Wiwa speaks of many of the different excursions he went on around the world, all in his earnest quest to learn and to fight for what he stood behind, places that included Denver, Colorado and Geneva (ch 4). Ken Wiwa was such a driven and determined man, who stood by what he believed in and followed through in his actions. As a part of his actions he created the Ogoni Central Union in order to gather people together, and which he became the president of; also within this council, wrote the Bill of Rights (pg 46). He knew that action, specifically bringing individuals together, was crucial to making a difference. He knew his role was one of using his own bravery and skills to mobilise people and to take action. “Indeed, literature must serve society by steeping itself in politics, by intervention, and writers must not merely write to amuse or to take a bemused, critical look at society. They must play an interventionist role” (pg 55). He knew that this was what would serve as a true form of influence.
With that kind of knowledge/self-power, if Ken Wiwa, had not been hanged, would he have gone on to fight for the rest of the minority groups in the Niger Delta against Shell? If education is what brings about some of this knowledge/power / power of knowledge, why are more people not inclined to take action? What must really get people to stand behind a cause and fight? Someone to follow? What would win this battle first, taking out Shell oil from Nigeria, or regaining fair democratic control over the Nigerian government? What would take longer?
Ken Saro-Wiwa’s book “A Month and Day & Letters” was a pretty powerful read. The repressment of the Ogoni people and the related Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People teaches us a lot about community organizing. It was an interesting choice to start the book on the day of his fourth arrest in three months, and the subsequent protests the youth of his community held following the arrest. It really speaks to the communal atmosphere he was building, and the kind of sway that he held in the community. From what we have learned over the years as SD majors, it was unsurprising to hear that Saro-Wiwa’s community was experiencing underdevelopment and political and physical dispossession due to the presence of oil in their region. However, it was inspiring to hear about the level of leadership Saro-Wiwa possessed in channelling these frustrations towards political involvement. Specifically, the “Ogoni Bill of Rights” (ch. 4) impressed me. However, with the harsh underdevelopment the Ogoni were experiencing, it is no wonder that they would politically organize. They had little to no piped water, inadequate education, little to no representation in government, and received no benefits from the oil drilling on their land. The Niger Delta nearby, which they depended on, was being completely ruined by these economic activities. The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) seemed like a natural reaction to these events, despite the violent tendencies which violate many proper protesting initiatives.
My question of the week: If Ken Saro-Wiwa was born in the contemporary United States and put in the same amount of effort and attention into political activism, would he have a stronger, weaker, or similar impact as he did in Nigeria. Would he be more successful because he would most likely be 1: coming from a less politically disenfranchised community, and 2: dealing with the American system? Or would he be less successful because of 1: political and wealth inequalities are better hidden from the general public in the U.S., and 2: Americans’ general sense of complacency or inadequate capitalistic tendency of “voting with your dollar”?
Nigeria is an extremely diverse country in Africa, as pointed out by both the book, A Month and a Day as well as the documentary, Sweet Crude. Much of this diversity and many complications stem from colonization as well as the extraction of precious minerals and energy resources. Direct colonialism is thought to be non-existent, but in fact contemporary, semi-disguised versions of colonialism are quite prevalent. Society and political leaders have been trying to shift towards globalization for a long time, but especially so since the Reagan administration. With this push, large powerful corporations have managed to gain even more power. Many of these same corporations have hit countless road blocks with the increase in environmental protection and regulations here in the United States. It abruptly became more financially attractive to outsource a lot of labor and production systems to countries where such regulations were essentially non-existent such as the extraction/production of crude oil in Nigeria.
It just so happens that these countries tend to lack access to basic necessities such as access to clean food and water, access to education, access to healthcare, and access to jobs. For all of these reasons, economies in these areas tend to be extremely poor. With so many people begging for work, these corporations were able to easily move in and take advantage of the fact that they could also save money on wages. Not only are there no environmental regulations in these countries, but organizations like OSHA and employee protection legislation simply do not exist. This means corporations are able to abuse and exploit not only the environment in these areas, but the people as well. All of this being said, the resources extracted, the profits made, and products produced under these kinds of conditions typically do not make it back to these areas. The people in these southern countries still are not able to afford the technologies that they contribute to, and those in the north take their ease of access to such goods for granted.
How would the world look politically, economically, and environmentally if the Global North paid its true dues to the Global South? What if we paid workers wages that matched ours? What if we paid realistic prices for the resources that we essentially steal from them? What if we respected their environment as we do our own? What if these corporations provided adequate health care for their employees like we get in the Global North? Would countries like the United States still be considered “leading countries?” Are our “advantages” self procured, or genuine?
Ken Saro-Wiwa’s “A Month and a Day” is an account of the Ogoni’s war-like experience in protecting the Niger Delta from the oil behemoth Shell. This work is key in demonstrating the problems and hypocrisies associated with “development”. As far as promises made for job creation, empowerment, and prosperity… Saro-Wiwa states that “oil exploration has turned Ogoni into a wasteland”. The connection between development and further oppression of indigenous people is made clear as he explains the degradation of Ogoni environment and society (language, food, culture, opportunities).
Saro-Wiwa’s urgency and demonstration of the slow-violence against the Ogoni community made me question my own strategies in combatting climate change. After attending the IPCC meeting on Monday, I think that it is important to note that strategies must depend on context. While an “activist” strategies to implement initiatives may be able to stand alone in many environments… I thought about how on a campus setting you also need bureaucratic support in order to ensure the sustainability of such initiatives. Either way, climate issues and exploitation are a form of “slow violence” (Nixon, 2011) and are urgent in creating a global burden and shared responsibility to increase global equity.
In A Month and a Day by Ken Saro Wiwa, she documents the time that he was in jail for rebelling against the government. Human rights are a huge issue throughout the reading as Ken documents his time in captivity. Not only this, but there are environmental justice themes as well, particularly extractivism. These two themes parallel each other. The reason that there was even an issue in the first place was because of Shell and other gas companies exporting gas. Many of these people have not been repaid for the environmental injustices that they have suffered through. In Sweet Crude, the same themes show up, environmental injustice because of a large corporation.
My question is this: how do large extractivism based companies select their location? Is it done on purpose so that people will not be able to or cannot oppose them?
In A Month and a Day, on page 56, Wiwa says about writing: “For we write best of the things we directly experience, better of what we hear, and well of what we imagine. This is probably why the best Nigerian writers have involved themselves actively in politics.” I read this as having questions of who tells the story, who is qualified to tell the story, and what does it mean to read a story from someone who has actually lived it? To me the writing part can be read as a metaphor, but also of course Wiwa takes writing in a literal way too.
Who has the choice to be outside of politics? Are they actually outside of politics, and if so, in what ways? What does it mean to write apolitically? What can this quote tell us about activism?
Both the movie “Sweet Crude” and the First few chapters of Ken Saro-Wiwa’s “A month and a day & letters” are both heart wrenching and thought-provoking. Ken Saro-Wiwa gives the reader chilling details into his Sixty-five days in chains, going weeks without foods, months of mental torture when he was imprisoned by the Nigerian government and for why?– for standing up for the basic human rights of the Ogoni people whom for years have been oppressed and their environment degraded by the oil companies who seem to control the government of Nigeria. Ken Saro held firm to his convictions that he would use his influence and education towards the liberation of the Ogoni people while in captivity. “The most important thing for me is that I’ve used my talents as a writer to enable the Ogoni people to confront their tormentors. I was not able to do it as a politician or a businessman. My writing did it. And it sure makes me feel good! I’m mentally prepared for the worst, but hopeful for the best. I think I have the moral victory.” This idea of “moral victory” was a cornerstone in the fight towards the Liberation of the Ogoni people from both governmental and corporate corruption and you could definitely see that in the film “Sweet Crude.” My question is, what can we learn from the spirit of the Ogoni people, in particular, the Ogoni youth in their struggle and resistance? For example, could use this idea of “moral victory” in future environmental justice movement and actions? What can we learn from Ken Saro-Wiwa in using our talents, education, or privileges in helping those who are struggling with disenfranchisement or environmental injustices?
Sweet Crude highlighted a lot of issues that come along with the introduction of foreign oil companies that set up shop in areas of lower income and underdevelopment. The issues specific to this film and the people involved, were that of pollution, unfair distribution of wealth and military force that dealt with peaceful protest. The true cost of our need for oil is never seen until someone decides to shoot a film about it and show it to the faces of people who will watch. When we look at these images we understand that what is being done is wrong, it is unfair and it is environmentally destructive. Environmental injustice is a key theme is this case because we are looking at a group of people who have very little political power and very little money to be heard. If they are to claim any type of agency for their people it would have to be through numbers and activism and one way of doing that was by creating the group that took to more violent tactics. This being the case I have a few questions regarding the issue.
How are big companies allowed to set up in areas that are known to be more sensitive to environmental change and destruction? When the public finally sees what the effects are of big oil and the companies that drill to get it, why is there never drastic change to the policies that allow for these activities to happen? Does activism have a chance at changing the policies currently in place to allow for these destructive activities to keep taking place?
In A Month and a Day Wiwa talks about the experience of the Ogoni people with the environmental disasters that have taken place on their lands. The Ogoni people view themselves as part of the land, so violence to the land is violence against the people. This view of environmental violence allows us to put a face to the violence rather than just talking about it from a distance. Viewing environmental harm as a crime against humanity brings new light to the problem and makes the effects real. The impact of this book shows that personal stories and community narratives do have a place when deciding policy and action against environmental degradation. We must take into account the feelings and values of the indigenous people when deciding how to interact with the land.
The movie “Sweet Crude” as well as the book “A Month and A Day” both address the strategies of non-violent protest and activism when it comes to fighting back against environmental degradation and political tyranny. Both the movie and the book discuss the way in which the people of the region are completely exploited, everything destroyed and they take non-violent actions in order to get the government to listen to their grievances. The movie also discusses the issue of what to do when non-violent protesting is not enough. That is the question I raise, when is it right, or it even ethical, to start protesting and fighting back when non-violence is no longer working? If non-violent protests are not getting the attention that the people deserve, is their an argument for rebellion? If a government is not providing basic necessity and, in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s words, waging war on its people, is it not in the people’s rights to fight back against the injustices?
In A Month and A Day, Ken Saro-Wiwa chronicles his people’s struggle for power in the Niger Delta, where oil has taken over and polluted land where native people live and grow food. He shows these struggles through economic unrest, violent struggles, and non-violent resistance.
Today, when so many people around the world and sometimes domestically, are facing police brutality, gun violence, and governments that rally behind militarism as peacemaking, is non-violent resistence a realistic approach? How do we create non-violent movements that actually get to the bottom of struggles without sacrificing lives?
Ken Saro-Wiwa also discusses the role of youth in this movement.. How do we empower the youth of America for the rights of their lives and their future planets? Should the next generation have a say in the way we currently are resolving and reacting to climate change and environmental degradation? Should the older population have a say as well?
Watching the documentary film Sweet Crude, we were exposed to the groups that used more violent techniques to battle the horrific conditions that oil companies were inflicting onto the Niger Delta. In Ken Saro-Wiwa’s, A month and a day and Letters, his philosophy of opposition against the forces, such as oil companies and the militaristic, violent, immoral leader Babangida, was one of peaceful protest, even when the opposition was ‘dreaming of killing protestors’. Ken Saro-Wiwa, a fighter for peace and justice, was murdered for a crime he did not commit, meanwhile the Ogoni people, his people who he fought his whole life for, were fighting their own extinction against the real murderers. These moral failures reveal the nature of politics of our time, where the innocent, people and nature, are experiencing genocide and mass exploitation, meanwhile Money and Power are hardly being singed.
My question is this: how can we, voices for sustainable development- which includes the fight for human rights, environmental protection, and justice and peace- fight against such abominations, where those who fight the most for justice, are the ones who get stomped. How do we continue Ken Saro-Wiwa’s legacy and those who fought like him. How do we continue Rachel Carson’s legacy? How do we let those who died from injustice, resurrect through powerful changes in the way that justice is distributed? And how can we use the power of literature (even ‘visual literature’ in the form of documentaries) , as Ken emphasizes in chapter 4, to induce great change and influence the mindsets of people who work in our politics, economics, change that is righteous for the right people?
The film Sweet Crude follows the people living in the Niger Delta, whose home and livelihoods were being destroyed by oil extraction. These people were explicit victims of environmental racism and cruel corporate exploitation. They decided to take charge of their situation by resorting to kidnapping, forcing people to take notice of their oppression. People of the Niger Delta did not see peace as an effective solution as they had been overlooked in the name of economic gain. Was this resort to violence essential to accomplishing their goal and to bring attention to their oppression? Was non-violent resistance an option given the people of the Niger Delta’s race and the race of their oppressors?
“A Month and A Day”is a diary written by Ken Saro-Wiwa during his time in captivity. He worked to support the survival of his Ogoni people whose land was being destroyed by Shell and other oil companies because the Niger Delta is rich in oil. The underrepresentation of the rights of the Ogoni people is deeply upsetting especially when it is considered that the underrepresentation of certain indigenous or other underrepresented groups is closely intertwined with the issue of environmental degradation. The Ogoni people try tirelessly to protect the ecosystems and advocate the environmental importance of the delta. The Ogoni people were not only fighting for the protection of their environment, they were also fighting for their survival. The incredibly corrupt government in Nigeria allowed Shell to continue to drill in an act of complete disregard for it’s less represented citizens. Saro-Wiwa describes Shell’s continued drilling as “a crime to all humanity” as it continued to degrade the land and ecosystems. Clearly, the environment of the Niger Delta as well as the survival of the Ogoni people are at stake because of the excessive and selfish oil drilling by Shell which is supported by countries like the US. Because the US supports Shell, it also supports the exploitation of the Ogoni people and countless other underrepresented peoples. My question is, how do we get people to see the impacts they have through their consumerism? How can we make a more transparent world where people are able to see their own actions/choices as the cause of the suffering of certain groups or of the environment?
“A Month and a Day” and “Sweet Crude” firstly made me deeply thankful for the times in my life where I have been part of a nonviolent protest that was not met with violence. Im painfully aware now that as a young, white, middle class college student to say that I reject violence as a means of resistance, cannot be compared to when someone like Ken Saro Wiwa, who was under constant threat of violence, made the same commitment. I have profound respect for the millions of people and activists around the world who have kept this commitment, even in the face of death. While I remain committed to the belief that violent responses only serve to perpetuate cycles of violence. However, after watching Sweet Crude, I question wether nonviolent resistance can eradicate these cycles either. What became apparent throughout the book and film was that greed and desperation will drive people to respond to peaceful protest with violence. We can work towards alleviating causes of desperation in ways that do not involve violence, but greed is more difficult. For those willing to take life purely for capital gain, how do we respond? If not with violence, with force? When does this force become violence and what can we do to prevent it?
“A Month and a Day” is a memoir written by Ken Saro-Wiwa, a human rights activist in Nigeria, during his time in a detention center which he had been placed in due to his public criticism of General Ibraham Babanganda and his military regime. Throughout the memoir, Saro-Wiwa refers to MOSOP, or the Movement for the Survival of the Organi People, an organization he helped create in response to environmental damages and the desire for cultural preservation of the Organi people who were being affected by the oil operations being conducted by multi-national corporation Shell along the river delta where the Organi are heavily concentrated. Saro-Wiwa further elaborates on the importance of the delta to the Organi people, illustrating not only are that they feeling the physical burdens (relocation, pollution, etc) but they are also at risk of compromising their entire cultural identity. This is a theme we’ve seen throughout this course, and one can certainly see some similarities between the Organi and the Native American traditions from which Tayo finds his identity and fulfillment in Ceremony in the sense that they both draw heavily on nature as inspiration and belonging. Saro-Wiwa goes on further to accuse the Nigerian government of working together with Shell in order to satisfy their selfish agenda, rather than protect a hugely underrepresented ethnic group who’s very way of life was in jeopardy. With such injustice all around him, he continues his reflection on the role of democracy and human rights as he spends the following month and a day in the detention center.
Considering “democracy” was the original goal of Nigeria and Saro-Wiwa, do you believe that would still be something he’d be willing to work towards given the widespread corruption he discovers to be running rampant throughout Nigerian politics? Would it have even been feasible at the time given the military state of the country, or would there need to be some sort of transitional period in order to start with a democracy strong, stable foundation?
The tale told by Saro-Wiwa displays a violent conversation about responsibility versus accountability in the face of corporate control and environmental degradation. Paired with “Sweet Crude”, we are able to see this story of pain and injustice on a personal and communal point of view. While Shell can see this land only for its economic services, the Ogoni are tied to land, it being one with the people and vice versa (page 3). Not only do these environmental catastrophes entail long term effects on the land, the series of imprisonments and murders instill fear and hatred for decades to come. Thinking through the lens of Foucault, the poor treatment of the Ogoni and the neglect and pain inflicted on Saro-Wiwa shows the nature of capitalism and exploitation, and how this is not simply an act of ownership of the land, but of the body and mind as well. I have found it important to note that when corporate accountability is lacking, it becomes a shared social responsibility to activists for change. This, perhaps, shows when injustice is at its peak. Ken Saro-Wiwa’s storytelling has left a heavy feeling in my heart, and I believe that in order for people to truly understand and connect with environmental issues, these stories are what can be the catalyst.
When the world does not seem to show dramatic change, is the result always going to end in violence? Is this where all communities are headed (most likely far in the future) in the face of increasing effects from climate change? What will our stories from today look like in the future? What mode of government could make non-human entities such as the Niger Delta become political bodies?
What struck me most while reading about Ken Saro-Wiwa’s experience being illegally detained and his previous acts fighting against Shell is that his behavior is regarded by the Nigerian government and others as extreme. He writes, “Over the past 32 years Ogani has offered Nigeria an estimated US 30 billion dollars and received nothing in return, except a blighted countryside, and atmosphere full of carbon dioxide…a land which is, in every sense of the term, an ecological disaster” (51). He then goes on to claim that the only thing that will save the Ogani region and culture is political autonomy, and “the right to use a fair proportion of Ogani resources for the development of Ogani–its education, health, agriculture, and culture” (51). There is a strong history of oppression against the Ogani people who are a minority in Nigeria. When Saro-Wiwa was a graduate student, he published a work on the civil war of 1969 over the control of oil resources and ethnic minorities. The policies which emerged after the war lead to the environmental degradation of Ogani and the dehumanisation of the Ogani people that Saro-Wiwa was fighting against. The Nigerian government does not see the Ogani resistance as logical–the result of a century of oppression and cultural assimilation–but rather something radical. But the Ogani people are fighting for basic rights and ownership over their own land, for clean water, electricity, and jobs, for proper education, for political autonomy and representation in the federal government, for a safe, healthy, clean environment free of pollution, for a fair portion of profit from the unsustainable extraction of oil reserves. What they are asking for is not excessive, nor is it an infringement upon others rights (except maybe the right to use an excessive amount of oil in developed countries), while the acts of the Nigerian government and the Shell corporation violate essentially every natural right of the Ogani people. It is furthermore admirable Saro-Wiwa and the Ogani people’s commitment to non-violent protest, when the acts of Shell and Nigerian elites are arguably extremely violent against the Ogani people.
On the other hand, we cannot entirely blame the Shell corporation for the destruction of Ogani and its people when we are the ones providing demand for their resources. Like a lot of things, our personal use of petroleum is both destructive of the environment and of the social/cultural/personal wellbeing of the communities from which we derive these resources. Every time we drive a car, for example, we are exploiting these people and their environment.
My question is, what is the most effective way, for us as SD students but more so as Americans, to support the resistance of people like the Ogani? By protesting big oil companies ourselves, by getting involved in politics, by living and promoting alternative lifestyles such as community economies or ecovillages? I guess in other words my question is, should our own resistance be directed at changing things in our own communities or focused on fighting for the rights of people that our lives inherently exploit and destroy like the Ogani? Will both of these occur simultaneously?
In SD2700 I was introduced to the corrupt and elusive practices of Shellco and its treatment of the community in Diamond, LA and likewise in Ogoniland. Saro-Wiwa and his efforts to resist Shell’s treatment of them and their land was so bold and influential on movements of the same and of other natures. Sweet Crude gave me visuals and more personal experiences in how this entity impacted the previously colonized land and its continued effects. The power of individuals building support to fight the power of evil intentions was so strong and it helped expose the industry for its wrongdoings to a higher platform. The continued lies and plots by the ties of the Nigerian government and the Oil industry led to Ken Saro-Wiwa’s death, but thanks to his incredible words of encouragement and assembly and uniting of his people, the efforts to fight for justice and equity are still intact and the narrative cannot be cloaked by the industry much longer. The film made me hopeful at the end, and more aware of the continued fights globally. “And we must get absolutely ready for the achievement of our desires, because the challenges which that achievement will pose are as tough as any that have gone before.” (76) His drive to speak for and protect the future of his people and his home creates a movement that shows the battle of values and intentions. Even though the awareness of the size of the battle they have entered into will be long and painful and exposing, they know that it is worth every challenge they face. No matter the suppression or counteractions taken during the battle, realizing what’s at stake maintains their desire for change and sovereignty. My question however is on how we can be more exposing of corruption, when governments do anything to suppress our voices and conceal their actions, like when Ken was wrongly murdered by his own country? It makes me crazy sometimes when we learn about these issues but then the ability to expose these are so hard to convey, but also so frustrating when governments and people ARE aware yet no actions are taken.
SD 3800 Voices in Sustainable Development 
A Month and A Day & Letters by Ken Saro-Wiwa is about Saro-Wiwa’s experience being arrested in 1993 by the Nigerian police, his ideas, and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People. Saro-Wiwa was accused of killing four men during a riot, although obviously innocent, he was found guilty and sentenced to jail, until he was eventually hung in 1995.
Shell (the gas company) was destroying the lands of the Ogoni people along the Niger Delta where there is a lot of oil reserves. Saro-Wiwa sees this area along the Niger Delta for its richness in other things besides oil. Shell is a very wealthy company, they should be wealthy enough to realize the value of the environment they are destroying to extract petroleum.
Most of the book is Ken Saro-Wiwa’s personal recalls of being imprisoned and what went on in his head and around him while he was awaiting an unknown death. I really admire his strong mindset while going through all of this, he sticks to his ideas and what he believes is right for the Ogoni people while he is imprisoned. As stated in A Month and A Day & Letters, “it fell to my lot to rehabilitate the returning Ogoni, and I did so without worrying about what role each had played in the Biafran debacle” (Saro-Wiwa 2012, page 40). In this quote he is in jail recalling memories of when he set up the Ogoni Development Association, it seems that even when his life is in danger he is thinking of helping others. His people have no electricity, no pipe-born water, and no job opportunities while the wealth of their resources is being exploited and taken away by these foreign corporations. The voice of the Ogoni people is not being heard, all they want is their freedom and autonomy, as well as the restoration and protection of their lands in the Niger Delta.
Question: Why was there no representation of the Ogoni people before all the associations were started? Why does the government in Nigeria fail to protect their people?
In Ken Saro-Wiwa’s autobiography, he discusses the events leading up to his execution in 1995. Ken was a political activist in Nigeria, standing up for the Ogoni people after the Niger River Delta had been destroyed due to irresponsible oil drilling practices by Shell. He begins his book with the story of his fourth arrest in three months. In chapter one he discusses how active Nigeria’s youth were in his political activism, saying “Ogoni youths showed far more solidarity, far more courage, than I had credited them with” after over 500 of them showed up to the offices of SSS to track him down and question his arrest (16). On the following page, he says, “to die fighting to right the wrong would be the greatest gift of life!” (17). This was mirrored in the movie we saw in class today, in which a speaker stated that they would never cease fighting, because to surrender was to be killed, so why not die fighting for what you believe in?
My question is how is this mirrored in today’s politics in the United States? Are protests regarding the Trump administration, Women’s rights, and police brutality (and other issues) similar to these non-violent protests? Are the outcomes much different, with youth being killed (in smaller numbers) for standing up for their beliefs and the rights of others and themselves?
A Month and a Day, is the memoir of Ken Saro Wiwa’s experience of the month and a day that he was imprisoned for his rebellious acts against the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida and the Shell oil company. Ken stresses multiple times that his concerns are for the “fragile ecosystem of the Niger Delta” yet he is still hung for crimes he did not commit. The obvious corruption in the Nigerian government and oil companies is disgusting. The environmental racism and oppression of the Nigerian people is appallingly obvious. Shell is allowed by the government, and even protected by the military to continue drilling for oil and completely destroy the Niger Delta ecosystem. This drilling has not only killed every living thing in the water but has everything but killed the people of the delta. Ken states, “I am appalled that this rich company, with the abundance of knowledge and material resources available to it, should treat the area with such callous indifference. I consider the loss of the Niger Delta a loss to all mankind and therefore regard Shell’s despoliation of the area as a crime to all humanity.” The situation that Shell, the oil companies, and the government has put these people in has caused them to react in the most extreme way. In the movie Sweet Crude, one of the speakers mentioned that these people protest every day and that people lose their lives for their cause every single day. There cause of trying to take back their resources, and clean up their ecosystems enough for a healthy life. The basic needs of life. I see their plight as our own. We disconnect ourselves so much from these people for so many reasons, but we must realize that the use of oil and products that marginalize and oppress human beings and landscapes is a crime to all humanity. We as SD students preach about climate change awareness yet we don’t do anything. We still support these companies that are committing such terrible crimes. We say we want to fight to take back our resources and clean up our ecosystems for a healthy life for us and future generations, yet what protests have we organized. Ken wrote something that really resonated with me. He wrote, “the writer cannot be a mere storyteller; he cannot be a mere teacher; he cannot merely X-ray society’s weakness, its ills, its perils. He or she must be actively involved shaping its present and its future.” Climate Change Action is a cause worth our time and energy. No matter what we feel, we as students are privileged. We have a lot more power than we think.
So my questions are, what are we going to do with that power? Are we going to allow our Earth’s resources to be used up and the continued oppression of different groups of people? What would Ken Saro Wiwa think of our action or un-action? Would he advocate for the organization of students to make a difference in our own community?
When reading A Month and A Day by Ken Saro-Wiwa, the image of oil flares lighting up the Nigerian night sky from “Sweet Crude” remained etched in my brain. The documentary we watched in class really got me ready for how brutally honest this book is. Following his arrest, Ken Saro-Wiwa was not allowed to speak to his lawyer, eat a simple dinner, or even know what he was really being arrested for. On page 14, during the night drive Saro-Wiwa is told that he is safely in the hands of the Nigerian Police force, but the officers will not give him their names or the name of their destination. Our author reflects back on how his family will feel about his incarceration. After a quick stop for gas, the bus was back on its way to Lagos.
Once he arrived at Lagos Ken was still being mistreated, having gone all day and night without food or water or proper indoor plumbing. After a couple days, Ken finally got fed. On page 29, one of the diners in the restaurant told our author that he should be freed soon since all of the elections results were nullified. This bit of false hope made me even more mad at the people keeping our author incarcerated. On page 44 Saro-Wiwa, while talking about how oil was at the center of the Nigerian Civil War, offers his audience this: “The notion that oil-bearing areas can provide the revenue of the country and yet be denied a proper share of that revenue because it is perceived that the inhabitants are few in number is unjust, immoral, unnatural, and ungodly.”
At the end of his excerpt, he puts out a call to action specifically aimed at “Nigerian elites” to “play fair” and start supporting the people of their country rather than just themselves. He explains further in saying that the Ogoni people have been mistreated and marginalized against ever since Shell started mining for oil in Nigeria in 1957. The lands and waters that make up Ogoni land have been absolutely devastated. They can no longer drink the water that has sustained life here for hundreds of thousands of years, their nets no longer bring in bounties of fish, parts their lands can no longer produce vegetables or grains suitable for human consumption.
Questions: How long will it take to repair these environments? Will they ever be the same? How can you clean up after spilling oil once a day for 25 years? How can anyone go to a place like this and destroy not only an entire culture’s way of life, but even the beaches and rivers that they are dependent upon?
Both the movie we watched “Sweet Crude,” and the book “A Month and a Day,”emphasize the suffering of the people in Nigeria. It emphasizes the impact that oil has on the people and the different social inequalities it results in. A quote that stood out to me at the beginning of the book when he was being arrested was “Injustice stalks the land like a tiger on the prowl” (pg 8). I thought this was interesting to think about and imagine the imagery that is involved. Environmental racism is a big problem in today’s society. Ken Saro-Wiwa fought with the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) against oil companies such as Shell who were suspected of working with the Nigerian government in order to extract oil without compensating the local community. The area is being devasted by the impacts of the oil drilling. The U.S. is responsible for buying some of this oil from Shell thus allowing for the injustice to continue. The movie showed that the only thing the people wanted was to not have to suffer from these injustices and that they are treated fairly. I feel like the movie was very eye-opening because by just reading the book it is difficult to picture what is going on but the movie put a face to the movement by talking with all of the locals and getting their opinions.
What can the US do to help stop the injustices happening? Would the reduction of oil purchased that comes from this region help? What should the Nigerian government be doing differently?
Human rights activism is naturally heavily intertwined with environmental activism, as peoples’ existence is dependent on the environment that they are situated in, being part of the environment as well. Therefore, our focus to mitigate these issues needs to be intersectional. Ken Saro-Wiwa did just that, advocating for the Ogoni People, a minority group that is being disproportionately affected by the greed and devastation that oil has fueled, with riches under their feet that they are not allowed to reap and benefit from. Saro-Wiwa saw firsthand Babangida’s cruel intentions, which I would infer to have been a major catalyst for his passionate criticism of this ruler, being lied to and subjected to things he thought were morally apprehensive. Saro-Wiwa was well off in terms of financial security, it is safe to assume that many people in similar positions would not be as outspoken and involved in seeking justice, especially against such a militant government that has killed many to assert their dominance in continuing their agenda at whatever costs.
The mentality of the educated Ogoni was always to keep close to the government of the day in order to pick up crumbs from the master’s table. Accordingly, although Ojukwu’s rebel Biafran government was hostile to the Ogoni as a people, the educated few yet found pickings by groveling at the feet of the administration. (51)
This criticism is valuable to analyze systems in place that perpetuate injustices, in which people are subjected to feed into, whether that be through greed or force. This criticism has been applied to sustainable development itself. A question that I have is how does one go about resisting the urge to fit in and become financially stable, if it means one must knowingly turn their backs on their own morals, how does that psychologically affect someone, being subjected to reject what they believe to be right, is it fair to argue that perhaps these feelings of passion were only fleeting and superficial if they can be rejected, or do these systems physically and psychologically manipulate and in the end have control of ones autonomy?
Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni struggle for self determination and control over natural resources was heavily influenced by the environmental degradation caused by Shell and other companies involved in oil exploration. Because the Ogoni people depended on the land and its waters for the sustenance of their livelihoods, the emergence of organizations to organize and voice their opinions opened up avenues for the mobilization of masses. “…I have used the term ‘Ogoni’ in preference to ‘Ogoniland’, which is fast becoming current; this is because to the Ogoni, the land and the people are one and are expressed as such in our local languages” (Saro-Wiwa, 3). This quote reflects the important connection between the Ogoni people and the land on which they live, so much so that the language of the people symbolically interchanges the word “Ogoni” in reference to the land and its people. This connection drives the youth of Ogoni to organize resistance against further environmental degradation at the hands of oil companies. Despite their struggles, many companies have failed to give compensation to the Ogoni people, whether the compensation be in the form of natural resource control, money to be used in development, or to directly restore environmental damages in the Niger Delta.
The Ogoni people have organized to defend their rights to expression, compensation, and freedom of expression. Even with international attention, peaceful protests and demonstrations have often been met with violence. In the documentary “Sweet Crude”, a militant group known as MEND discussed that since non-violent approaches have not changed environmental conditions or guaranteed communities adequate compensation, MEND must react by violent means in order to gain the attention for needed change. Can violent and intentional refusal of rights by the Nigerian government in collaboration with Shell and other companies be combated by community militant resistance? How do violent reactions to slow change/ reactions by powerful entities hinder, expedite, or open avenues to resolutions/ dialogue between differing stakeholders?
In seeing how Ken Saro-Wiwa led a movement for the survival of Ogoni people in response to human rights abuses from oil corporations such as Shell and Chevron, in addition to the militarized Nigerian government under the rule of dictator Babangida, one arrives at a point of contention. It was through the history of the slave trade in Nigeria and colonial rule that the corrupt power occurred and lasted through the late 20th century and how the neocolonial presence remained in Nigeria with the extraction of oil and the killing of Ogoniland’s ecology and people through the exploitative drilling. However, Ken Saro-Wiwa’s voice was heard by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland and other organized assistance throughout Europe. Is there a contradiction between the Ogoni people’s autonomy being supported by the organizations in Europe while the very colonial powers and transnational oil corporations which devastated the Ogoni people and way of life are from Europe as well? Ken Saro Wiwa later stated, “Ultimately, however, the fault lies at the door of the British Government” (179).
Ultimately, Ken Saro-Wiwa gave his life for the emancipation of the Ogoni people. His final words before his hanging are as follows: “Lord take my soul, but the struggle continues” (174). It was said in the film Sweet Crude how Ken Saro-Wiwa’s death for his pursuit of freeing the Ogoni people spurred further motivation and strengthened their argument for justice. He was also quoted, “We must keep on striving to make the world a better place for all mankind. Each one contributing his bit, in his or her own way” (179). In speaking for the greater good of humanity, Ken Saro-Wiwa also established non-violence at the center of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People. Yet, it was also revealed in the film Sweet Crude how similarly mistreated indigenous people in the Niger Delta formed the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, took up arms to fight with violence for their freedom, fair share of oil profits, and for the sake of a livable environment. How would the oil corporations have responded differently if the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was to have used non-violence tactics similar to Ken Saro-Wiwa?
As I was reading about Ken Saro-Wiwa experience of being detained and arrested. How he went more than 24 hours with out being feed, the long trips to different holding areas that he experienced. How he got the benefit of not being in the guard room but even then it was not great conditions. His story as a further read I also was think about the in the movie “Sweet Crude” the activism that was occurring, how many people were standing up for what they believe. The passion that he help initiate was flowing into the things that were occurring in the Ogoni community. But then think again back to the “Sweet Crude” the questions of, How can an outside corporation make such an negative impact on the communities in Nigeria? Is this issue only effecting a small population that the government is not apart of? How can that representation for the communities be found?
In the film Sweet Crude, I found it particularly interesting how one of the major voices in the movement emphasized how there’ll dialogue and dialogue and dialogue but none of that really means anything if there’s still inaction. Unfortunately, we live in an era of many challenges but habitual inaction to solve those issues, with some those issues being brought up in the recent IPCC report. This particular statement made by the woman in the film resonates with me because we can form discussion groups and spend sleepless nights brainstorming ideas and sulking over the majority’s lack of action but the issues at hand require immediate response. Furthermore, Ken Saro-Wiwa’s life, and those men and women alike him, is a perfect example of sacrificing everything for a cause just like some had expressed from the film. While the issues discussed in film and in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s differ from our‘s and I wasn’t able to be present for the recent SD IPCC meeting, I was wondering if Ken Saro-Wiwa were still with us today and was at a meeting similar to the one earlier this week what would be his major suggestion to promote action?
Viewing the film Sweet Crude and reading through Ken Saro-Wiwa’s struggles within A Month and a Day made me think about activism in the United States (acts of non-violent protest and direct violence as protest). Specifically, I couldn’t help but think about how body politics still play into protest and activism; in the US especially, protesting can be a very dangerous action for certain identities due to the response from the systems and governments that oppress them. Think about how different responses were to Black Lives Matter’s peaceful protests (which unfortunately turned violent as there is always a heavy police presence) versus the responses to the Women’s March on Washington or even the response to non-violent gathering by the survivors/supporters of the Parkland high school shooting (March for Our Lives movement).
Did body politics/aspects of protester’s identity play into the responses to activism showcased in Sweet Crude and Saro-Wiwa’s book? Much like we often have the idea of a “perfect victim” (a mythical norm if you will), is there a conceived notion of the “perfect protester”? What does that look like? Furthermore, how do we diverge from this and accept different forms of protest and begin to understand why violence/non-violence may be necessary to affect change?
Through the film Sweet Crude, and the chapters from Ken Saro-Wiwa’s A Month and a Day, we get a dualistic view on how protests have been carried out in Nigeria’s Delta region, and how said protests have been reacted upon. Both drew national attention to a rather persistent struggle in the region…that somehow, the 10th largest oil refining area in the world refuses to distribute the accrued wealth amongst the area it was extracted from, much less the people who are still having their livelihoods severely impacted. Saro-Wiwa highlighted that the greatest desire amongst this resource poverty was for the Ogoni people to have agency political control over their own areas, and especially over industries whose extraction practices affect their people’s livelihoods. Nigeria’s Delta had suffered a lack of autonomy under colonialism, and these practices continued under the leaders that were instilled and took over. Sweet Crude makes note of the same, and brings a more emotionally stirring picture to our minds, as we see the wrecked and ravaged beaches and rivers where sludge and Shell reign supreme. This reminds me of how we push our industrial waste onto minority communities and nuclear to Native American tribes here in the states.
The methodologies shown in the movie and promoted in the book were vastly different; Saro-wiwa was non-violent to the letter, making the specific and necessary demands with a pacifistic hand. In the movie we saw peaceful protests, and a peaceful (but still very legally frowned upon) kidnapping. From the side of industry and the government, force was always at hand. Such is the way here too, is it not? I suppose after reading and watching my burning question remains this;
If, in the fight to preserve the capital gains of industry, corporations and governments have, are, and will continue to use violent force to maintain their agendas, to what extent and in what ways should we resist? Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed for his non-violent approach. The film talks about violence against communities and deaths on a near daily basis. International attention isn’t putting enough pressure on to solve the issue. So how should we approach and assist those fighting for their rights to health, culture, and livelihood under the loom of big business? Small group militias can’t do much to combat military forces these days besides waving a hostage or two around, and peacefully organizing can also get you on a government watch/hit list. Should the people of the delta continue on with increased fever in hopes of eventually wearing Shell down?
A Month and a Day by Ken Saro-Wiwa is a journal he wrote from his time in captivity. His writings really highlight the struggle for humans rights for indigenous people and the corrupt governments in place withholding basic needs from humans. It also brings up the discussion of non violent and violent protests and their decision to remain non- violent. We also see in the film Sweet Crude the people of the Niger Delta for the most part remaining non – violent. I think it is hard for me to say whether non violent or violence is the answer since I have never been in a position like any of these people, and it would be unfair to sit here and say which way they should respond as for every situation is different. I am curious to know what protesting techniques the class has heard of or used that have been successful and do you think there are new ways of protesting that can be discover? What is our role in wanting to empower these people and wanting to support those whose rights are taken away and don’t have a voice?
In reading A Month and A Day, and also in watching Sweet Crude, I was very struck by the nature of activism that both Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other advocates of the Niger River Delta engage in. Saro-Wiwa says on page 17 of the book that “To die fighting to right the wrong would be the greatest gift of life! Yes, the gift of life.” An interviewee in the film echoed this sentiment, stating that he would die for the cause. It brings perspective to activism. What sorts of activism do we as students engage in? What lessons can we learn from people whose causes are matters of life and death, and how does their willingness to die interact with their commitments to violence or non-violence? What is it to be truly committed to a cause?
Both in the movie “Sweet Crude” and in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s book A Month and a Day the story of environmental degradation caused by oil extraction affecting the Nigerian people is told. In Saro-Wiwa’s book, the struggle for human and environmental right of the Ogoni people is highlighted and really calls attention to the opposition indigenous people face. Saro-Wiwa advocated for people who previously struggle to gain a voice, mobilized them, and exemplified non-violent tactics with extreme support from the youth community. As he said on page 16, “Ogoni youths showed far more solidarity, far more courage, than I had credited them with” regarding how they strongly contested and question his arrest 500 strong.
My question regards how this movement in the Nigerian Delta can be compared to and learned from in regards to pipeline installation in the United States. These pipelines are often contested by Native American groups, non-violently but with limited success. How could these movements in the US learn from Ken Saro-Wiwa’s leadership in the Nigerian Delta? Are there mistakes he made that we can learn from? What differences are there in the two movements?
In sweet Crude the struggle of the Nigerian Delta people was shown as they fought for fair treatment by the oil companies. While they started with non violent techniques they eventually became radicalized switching to kidnapping and militarized. My question is are there limits to nonviolence is there a time when violent action must be taken? Then have been a number of times where violent action has been preached. An example of this is the civil rights movement with Martin Luther King jr preaching for non violence and Malcolm X preaching a more militant form of trying to achieve rights. Are there times when violent action goes along with non-violent action in order to achieve what might not otherwise be achieve able?
In the 4th Chapter of A Month And A Day, Saro-Wiwa makes several remarks strike as particularly applicable for American society today. Especially when he quotes his book On A Darkling Plain. “In spite of my hesitations about all that surrounded the last civil war, I wish to pay tribute to the men and women on both sides who fought against injustice, against hypocrisy and humbug as they saw it. We must ensure the those who died fighting, shall not have died in vain.” (p.43, Saro-Wiwa)
What if we approached our public discourse with the mentality established in the first section? Would this honoring of both sides and acknowledging that they are fighting for what they see to be true be healing for our society? How do we validate the experiences of groups of people who feel persecuted by each other? Should we? Is that to much to ask of persecuted people? Can we move forward with discourse while continuing to not do this work of acknowledgment and validation?
He continues “I call upon the Nigerian elite to play fair by all Nigerian communities, to allow scientific methodology to replace sleight-of-hand as an instrument of social engineering and to show compassion to the less privileged of our society so that we may achieve a better Nigeria and hand over a meaningful legacy and a beautiful country to the future.” (p.45, Saro-Wiwa)
What does he mean by scientific methodology, and would this approach be applicable for America? What does compassion framed in the context of handing over “a beautiful country to the future” look like? Beautiful country in what way? How do we reconcile all the different ways that people envision their version of a beautiful country?
The first few chapters of A Month and a Day are about the exhausting journey of Saro-Wiwa in his detainment by the Nigerian police. He also recollects and accounts for what is going on with the battle between the Ogoni people and the Carpetbaggers of Nigeria. He explains that Lagos became increasingly populated when the Delta oil market had been cornered by the nations rulers. Oil began to be transferred from the Delta to Lagos disregarding groups like the Ogoni whose land was sitting on the oil. (27) He acknowledges also the irony of the roads on his way to Benin city as being rickety and unpaved when the area is rich with oil. All of the petrodollars are transferred to the arid parts of the country to build more efficient express ways. (16) Since the Ogoni people along with some other minority groups are the ones sitting on the oil, should they be entitled to it? Or should there be no oil drilling in the first place in the delta (or at least highly minimized)? If the Ogoni became entitled to petrodollars how would it affect their communities?
I believe that having the background knowledge of the Sweet Crude documentary is essential to reading Ken Saro-Wiwa’s piece. It gives the text an erie, solemn feel as you read the process of abduction, questioning and the travel away from his home.
The dire situation of the Ogoni peoples encourages Ken to participate in activism that he very well knows could take his life. He hints to this on page 14 as he is traveling to Lagos, and pictures being mugged by the corrupt Nigerian Police force.
I cannot help but to question if there is a role foreigners could play in this corrupt battlefield of resource depletion and the exploitation of a homeland that takes advantage of a certain ethnic group. What action could we take as members of a democracy that could make a real impact on the struggle that Ken Saro-Wiwa gave his life to?
Is there more than voting for a government with stricter regulation on international corporations and their environmental and cultural degradation? Are there ideas for a grass roots movement that could connect a small community in the States to the Ogoni people?
How, in the future, do we not sit across the globe and watch as injustice takes place?
In the film, Sweet Crude a group of people in the Niger Delta protesting the presence of oil companies on their land. These oil companies used and destroyed the natural resources of the delta that the people relied on. Ken Saro-Wiwa was one of the leaders of this resistance who was executed in 1995. His legacy of non-violent protest lasted only a short time before the people of this area turned to violent means of protest due to desperation. The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) began destroying oil company property and kidnapping foreign oil workers in order to bring attention and urgency to their demands. These actions were covered by global media with language that labeled these individuals as rebels and the reason our (the U.S.) oil prices may go up. There was little to no mention of why these people were doing what they were doing. This leads me to the question:
Is it acceptable to use violence to get what you need in order to survive? And if so, at what point is it acceptable?
As I viewed the film “Sweet Crude” and read Ken Saro-Wiwa’s descriptions about the all-encompassing death and destruction brought into Nigeria by the oil industry as well as their community response, I just kept marveling at the community’s resilience and strength. I can barely stay driven enough to fight every day for environmental issues, especially when I feel like there’s nothing to be done in the face of such huge issues like climate change, corporate irresponsibility, etc. To face a huge international oil corporation every day and fight them with such passion as the Ogoni people did is inspiring. I credit some of this passion to the strong base of young adults that fought. The movement reminded me in a way of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and the power that accompanied that.
My question is- What is it about youth that can cause such powerful revolution? Is this “youthful power” one of the reasons that the older generation tries to label young peoples’ ideas as naive, over zealous, etc? Why are we “trained” to be complacent in a society if we have the potential capacity to save it and how do we counteract the status quo without becoming tainted by it?
In the documentary “Sweet Crude” we see how Shell has used the Nigerian delta for its rich oil deposits. However this was not the goal of the film-maker when she traveled to Nigeria, but rather this story of the peoples of the delta caught her attention. If it weren’t for journalists like her we would not get peoples perspective on these environmental and social issues. We would only get the government or Shells narrative about how the resistance was negatively impacting oil output. The international economic based media labeled the delta people as “rebel militants” and the film maker showed us a strong people that were desperate to have their voice heard.
So my questions are, how do you think the labels affected international reaction to the delta peoples actions? In light of the case with the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, another journalist that shown light on stories that the state found unfavorable to their image, was killed by the new crown Prince to silence him. Do you think that actions against Jamal will have lasting impacts on journalists that show different perspectives that don’t align with the state? or will this marter fire up a new wave of muck-rakers?
In A Month and A Day & Letters, Ken Saro-Wiwa gives a detailed account of his experience of the clashing turmoil of the intrusion of Shell oil on the Ogoni people’s land and the injustice from the corrupt Nigerian government. Saro-Wiwa in his book speaks primarily about his experiences of major events regarding arrests, protests, and the important details in between that all contribute to the timeline of his activism for the Ogoni people. Early on in the book, Ken Wiwa speaks of many of the different excursions he went on around the world, all in his earnest quest to learn and to fight for what he stood behind, places that included Denver, Colorado and Geneva (ch 4). Ken Wiwa was such a driven and determined man, who stood by what he believed in and followed through in his actions. As a part of his actions he created the Ogoni Central Union in order to gather people together, and which he became the president of; also within this council, wrote the Bill of Rights (pg 46). He knew that action, specifically bringing individuals together, was crucial to making a difference. He knew his role was one of using his own bravery and skills to mobilise people and to take action. “Indeed, literature must serve society by steeping itself in politics, by intervention, and writers must not merely write to amuse or to take a bemused, critical look at society. They must play an interventionist role” (pg 55). He knew that this was what would serve as a true form of influence.
With that kind of knowledge/self-power, if Ken Wiwa, had not been hanged, would he have gone on to fight for the rest of the minority groups in the Niger Delta against Shell? If education is what brings about some of this knowledge/power / power of knowledge, why are more people not inclined to take action? What must really get people to stand behind a cause and fight? Someone to follow? What would win this battle first, taking out Shell oil from Nigeria, or regaining fair democratic control over the Nigerian government? What would take longer?
Ken Saro-Wiwa’s book “A Month and Day & Letters” was a pretty powerful read. The repressment of the Ogoni people and the related Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People teaches us a lot about community organizing. It was an interesting choice to start the book on the day of his fourth arrest in three months, and the subsequent protests the youth of his community held following the arrest. It really speaks to the communal atmosphere he was building, and the kind of sway that he held in the community. From what we have learned over the years as SD majors, it was unsurprising to hear that Saro-Wiwa’s community was experiencing underdevelopment and political and physical dispossession due to the presence of oil in their region. However, it was inspiring to hear about the level of leadership Saro-Wiwa possessed in channelling these frustrations towards political involvement. Specifically, the “Ogoni Bill of Rights” (ch. 4) impressed me. However, with the harsh underdevelopment the Ogoni were experiencing, it is no wonder that they would politically organize. They had little to no piped water, inadequate education, little to no representation in government, and received no benefits from the oil drilling on their land. The Niger Delta nearby, which they depended on, was being completely ruined by these economic activities. The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) seemed like a natural reaction to these events, despite the violent tendencies which violate many proper protesting initiatives.
My question of the week: If Ken Saro-Wiwa was born in the contemporary United States and put in the same amount of effort and attention into political activism, would he have a stronger, weaker, or similar impact as he did in Nigeria. Would he be more successful because he would most likely be 1: coming from a less politically disenfranchised community, and 2: dealing with the American system? Or would he be less successful because of 1: political and wealth inequalities are better hidden from the general public in the U.S., and 2: Americans’ general sense of complacency or inadequate capitalistic tendency of “voting with your dollar”?
Nigeria is an extremely diverse country in Africa, as pointed out by both the book, A Month and a Day as well as the documentary, Sweet Crude. Much of this diversity and many complications stem from colonization as well as the extraction of precious minerals and energy resources. Direct colonialism is thought to be non-existent, but in fact contemporary, semi-disguised versions of colonialism are quite prevalent. Society and political leaders have been trying to shift towards globalization for a long time, but especially so since the Reagan administration. With this push, large powerful corporations have managed to gain even more power. Many of these same corporations have hit countless road blocks with the increase in environmental protection and regulations here in the United States. It abruptly became more financially attractive to outsource a lot of labor and production systems to countries where such regulations were essentially non-existent such as the extraction/production of crude oil in Nigeria.
It just so happens that these countries tend to lack access to basic necessities such as access to clean food and water, access to education, access to healthcare, and access to jobs. For all of these reasons, economies in these areas tend to be extremely poor. With so many people begging for work, these corporations were able to easily move in and take advantage of the fact that they could also save money on wages. Not only are there no environmental regulations in these countries, but organizations like OSHA and employee protection legislation simply do not exist. This means corporations are able to abuse and exploit not only the environment in these areas, but the people as well. All of this being said, the resources extracted, the profits made, and products produced under these kinds of conditions typically do not make it back to these areas. The people in these southern countries still are not able to afford the technologies that they contribute to, and those in the north take their ease of access to such goods for granted.
How would the world look politically, economically, and environmentally if the Global North paid its true dues to the Global South? What if we paid workers wages that matched ours? What if we paid realistic prices for the resources that we essentially steal from them? What if we respected their environment as we do our own? What if these corporations provided adequate health care for their employees like we get in the Global North? Would countries like the United States still be considered “leading countries?” Are our “advantages” self procured, or genuine?
Ken Saro-Wiwa’s “A Month and a Day” is an account of the Ogoni’s war-like experience in protecting the Niger Delta from the oil behemoth Shell. This work is key in demonstrating the problems and hypocrisies associated with “development”. As far as promises made for job creation, empowerment, and prosperity… Saro-Wiwa states that “oil exploration has turned Ogoni into a wasteland”. The connection between development and further oppression of indigenous people is made clear as he explains the degradation of Ogoni environment and society (language, food, culture, opportunities).
Saro-Wiwa’s urgency and demonstration of the slow-violence against the Ogoni community made me question my own strategies in combatting climate change. After attending the IPCC meeting on Monday, I think that it is important to note that strategies must depend on context. While an “activist” strategies to implement initiatives may be able to stand alone in many environments… I thought about how on a campus setting you also need bureaucratic support in order to ensure the sustainability of such initiatives. Either way, climate issues and exploitation are a form of “slow violence” (Nixon, 2011) and are urgent in creating a global burden and shared responsibility to increase global equity.
In A Month and a Day by Ken Saro Wiwa, she documents the time that he was in jail for rebelling against the government. Human rights are a huge issue throughout the reading as Ken documents his time in captivity. Not only this, but there are environmental justice themes as well, particularly extractivism. These two themes parallel each other. The reason that there was even an issue in the first place was because of Shell and other gas companies exporting gas. Many of these people have not been repaid for the environmental injustices that they have suffered through. In Sweet Crude, the same themes show up, environmental injustice because of a large corporation.
My question is this: how do large extractivism based companies select their location? Is it done on purpose so that people will not be able to or cannot oppose them?
In A Month and a Day, on page 56, Wiwa says about writing: “For we write best of the things we directly experience, better of what we hear, and well of what we imagine. This is probably why the best Nigerian writers have involved themselves actively in politics.” I read this as having questions of who tells the story, who is qualified to tell the story, and what does it mean to read a story from someone who has actually lived it? To me the writing part can be read as a metaphor, but also of course Wiwa takes writing in a literal way too.
Who has the choice to be outside of politics? Are they actually outside of politics, and if so, in what ways? What does it mean to write apolitically? What can this quote tell us about activism?
Both the movie “Sweet Crude” and the First few chapters of Ken Saro-Wiwa’s “A month and a day & letters” are both heart wrenching and thought-provoking. Ken Saro-Wiwa gives the reader chilling details into his Sixty-five days in chains, going weeks without foods, months of mental torture when he was imprisoned by the Nigerian government and for why?– for standing up for the basic human rights of the Ogoni people whom for years have been oppressed and their environment degraded by the oil companies who seem to control the government of Nigeria. Ken Saro held firm to his convictions that he would use his influence and education towards the liberation of the Ogoni people while in captivity. “The most important thing for me is that I’ve used my talents as a writer to enable the Ogoni people to confront their tormentors. I was not able to do it as a politician or a businessman. My writing did it. And it sure makes me feel good! I’m mentally prepared for the worst, but hopeful for the best. I think I have the moral victory.” This idea of “moral victory” was a cornerstone in the fight towards the Liberation of the Ogoni people from both governmental and corporate corruption and you could definitely see that in the film “Sweet Crude.” My question is, what can we learn from the spirit of the Ogoni people, in particular, the Ogoni youth in their struggle and resistance? For example, could use this idea of “moral victory” in future environmental justice movement and actions? What can we learn from Ken Saro-Wiwa in using our talents, education, or privileges in helping those who are struggling with disenfranchisement or environmental injustices?
Sweet Crude highlighted a lot of issues that come along with the introduction of foreign oil companies that set up shop in areas of lower income and underdevelopment. The issues specific to this film and the people involved, were that of pollution, unfair distribution of wealth and military force that dealt with peaceful protest. The true cost of our need for oil is never seen until someone decides to shoot a film about it and show it to the faces of people who will watch. When we look at these images we understand that what is being done is wrong, it is unfair and it is environmentally destructive. Environmental injustice is a key theme is this case because we are looking at a group of people who have very little political power and very little money to be heard. If they are to claim any type of agency for their people it would have to be through numbers and activism and one way of doing that was by creating the group that took to more violent tactics. This being the case I have a few questions regarding the issue.
How are big companies allowed to set up in areas that are known to be more sensitive to environmental change and destruction? When the public finally sees what the effects are of big oil and the companies that drill to get it, why is there never drastic change to the policies that allow for these activities to happen? Does activism have a chance at changing the policies currently in place to allow for these destructive activities to keep taking place?
In A Month and a Day Wiwa talks about the experience of the Ogoni people with the environmental disasters that have taken place on their lands. The Ogoni people view themselves as part of the land, so violence to the land is violence against the people. This view of environmental violence allows us to put a face to the violence rather than just talking about it from a distance. Viewing environmental harm as a crime against humanity brings new light to the problem and makes the effects real. The impact of this book shows that personal stories and community narratives do have a place when deciding policy and action against environmental degradation. We must take into account the feelings and values of the indigenous people when deciding how to interact with the land.
The movie “Sweet Crude” as well as the book “A Month and A Day” both address the strategies of non-violent protest and activism when it comes to fighting back against environmental degradation and political tyranny. Both the movie and the book discuss the way in which the people of the region are completely exploited, everything destroyed and they take non-violent actions in order to get the government to listen to their grievances. The movie also discusses the issue of what to do when non-violent protesting is not enough. That is the question I raise, when is it right, or it even ethical, to start protesting and fighting back when non-violence is no longer working? If non-violent protests are not getting the attention that the people deserve, is their an argument for rebellion? If a government is not providing basic necessity and, in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s words, waging war on its people, is it not in the people’s rights to fight back against the injustices?
In A Month and A Day, Ken Saro-Wiwa chronicles his people’s struggle for power in the Niger Delta, where oil has taken over and polluted land where native people live and grow food. He shows these struggles through economic unrest, violent struggles, and non-violent resistance.
Today, when so many people around the world and sometimes domestically, are facing police brutality, gun violence, and governments that rally behind militarism as peacemaking, is non-violent resistence a realistic approach? How do we create non-violent movements that actually get to the bottom of struggles without sacrificing lives?
Ken Saro-Wiwa also discusses the role of youth in this movement.. How do we empower the youth of America for the rights of their lives and their future planets? Should the next generation have a say in the way we currently are resolving and reacting to climate change and environmental degradation? Should the older population have a say as well?
Watching the documentary film Sweet Crude, we were exposed to the groups that used more violent techniques to battle the horrific conditions that oil companies were inflicting onto the Niger Delta. In Ken Saro-Wiwa’s, A month and a day and Letters, his philosophy of opposition against the forces, such as oil companies and the militaristic, violent, immoral leader Babangida, was one of peaceful protest, even when the opposition was ‘dreaming of killing protestors’. Ken Saro-Wiwa, a fighter for peace and justice, was murdered for a crime he did not commit, meanwhile the Ogoni people, his people who he fought his whole life for, were fighting their own extinction against the real murderers. These moral failures reveal the nature of politics of our time, where the innocent, people and nature, are experiencing genocide and mass exploitation, meanwhile Money and Power are hardly being singed.
My question is this: how can we, voices for sustainable development- which includes the fight for human rights, environmental protection, and justice and peace- fight against such abominations, where those who fight the most for justice, are the ones who get stomped. How do we continue Ken Saro-Wiwa’s legacy and those who fought like him. How do we continue Rachel Carson’s legacy? How do we let those who died from injustice, resurrect through powerful changes in the way that justice is distributed? And how can we use the power of literature (even ‘visual literature’ in the form of documentaries) , as Ken emphasizes in chapter 4, to induce great change and influence the mindsets of people who work in our politics, economics, change that is righteous for the right people?
The film Sweet Crude follows the people living in the Niger Delta, whose home and livelihoods were being destroyed by oil extraction. These people were explicit victims of environmental racism and cruel corporate exploitation. They decided to take charge of their situation by resorting to kidnapping, forcing people to take notice of their oppression. People of the Niger Delta did not see peace as an effective solution as they had been overlooked in the name of economic gain. Was this resort to violence essential to accomplishing their goal and to bring attention to their oppression? Was non-violent resistance an option given the people of the Niger Delta’s race and the race of their oppressors?
“A Month and A Day”is a diary written by Ken Saro-Wiwa during his time in captivity. He worked to support the survival of his Ogoni people whose land was being destroyed by Shell and other oil companies because the Niger Delta is rich in oil. The underrepresentation of the rights of the Ogoni people is deeply upsetting especially when it is considered that the underrepresentation of certain indigenous or other underrepresented groups is closely intertwined with the issue of environmental degradation. The Ogoni people try tirelessly to protect the ecosystems and advocate the environmental importance of the delta. The Ogoni people were not only fighting for the protection of their environment, they were also fighting for their survival. The incredibly corrupt government in Nigeria allowed Shell to continue to drill in an act of complete disregard for it’s less represented citizens. Saro-Wiwa describes Shell’s continued drilling as “a crime to all humanity” as it continued to degrade the land and ecosystems. Clearly, the environment of the Niger Delta as well as the survival of the Ogoni people are at stake because of the excessive and selfish oil drilling by Shell which is supported by countries like the US. Because the US supports Shell, it also supports the exploitation of the Ogoni people and countless other underrepresented peoples. My question is, how do we get people to see the impacts they have through their consumerism? How can we make a more transparent world where people are able to see their own actions/choices as the cause of the suffering of certain groups or of the environment?
“A Month and a Day” and “Sweet Crude” firstly made me deeply thankful for the times in my life where I have been part of a nonviolent protest that was not met with violence. Im painfully aware now that as a young, white, middle class college student to say that I reject violence as a means of resistance, cannot be compared to when someone like Ken Saro Wiwa, who was under constant threat of violence, made the same commitment. I have profound respect for the millions of people and activists around the world who have kept this commitment, even in the face of death. While I remain committed to the belief that violent responses only serve to perpetuate cycles of violence. However, after watching Sweet Crude, I question wether nonviolent resistance can eradicate these cycles either. What became apparent throughout the book and film was that greed and desperation will drive people to respond to peaceful protest with violence. We can work towards alleviating causes of desperation in ways that do not involve violence, but greed is more difficult. For those willing to take life purely for capital gain, how do we respond? If not with violence, with force? When does this force become violence and what can we do to prevent it?
“A Month and a Day” is a memoir written by Ken Saro-Wiwa, a human rights activist in Nigeria, during his time in a detention center which he had been placed in due to his public criticism of General Ibraham Babanganda and his military regime. Throughout the memoir, Saro-Wiwa refers to MOSOP, or the Movement for the Survival of the Organi People, an organization he helped create in response to environmental damages and the desire for cultural preservation of the Organi people who were being affected by the oil operations being conducted by multi-national corporation Shell along the river delta where the Organi are heavily concentrated. Saro-Wiwa further elaborates on the importance of the delta to the Organi people, illustrating not only are that they feeling the physical burdens (relocation, pollution, etc) but they are also at risk of compromising their entire cultural identity. This is a theme we’ve seen throughout this course, and one can certainly see some similarities between the Organi and the Native American traditions from which Tayo finds his identity and fulfillment in Ceremony in the sense that they both draw heavily on nature as inspiration and belonging. Saro-Wiwa goes on further to accuse the Nigerian government of working together with Shell in order to satisfy their selfish agenda, rather than protect a hugely underrepresented ethnic group who’s very way of life was in jeopardy. With such injustice all around him, he continues his reflection on the role of democracy and human rights as he spends the following month and a day in the detention center.
Considering “democracy” was the original goal of Nigeria and Saro-Wiwa, do you believe that would still be something he’d be willing to work towards given the widespread corruption he discovers to be running rampant throughout Nigerian politics? Would it have even been feasible at the time given the military state of the country, or would there need to be some sort of transitional period in order to start with a democracy strong, stable foundation?
The tale told by Saro-Wiwa displays a violent conversation about responsibility versus accountability in the face of corporate control and environmental degradation. Paired with “Sweet Crude”, we are able to see this story of pain and injustice on a personal and communal point of view. While Shell can see this land only for its economic services, the Ogoni are tied to land, it being one with the people and vice versa (page 3). Not only do these environmental catastrophes entail long term effects on the land, the series of imprisonments and murders instill fear and hatred for decades to come. Thinking through the lens of Foucault, the poor treatment of the Ogoni and the neglect and pain inflicted on Saro-Wiwa shows the nature of capitalism and exploitation, and how this is not simply an act of ownership of the land, but of the body and mind as well. I have found it important to note that when corporate accountability is lacking, it becomes a shared social responsibility to activists for change. This, perhaps, shows when injustice is at its peak. Ken Saro-Wiwa’s storytelling has left a heavy feeling in my heart, and I believe that in order for people to truly understand and connect with environmental issues, these stories are what can be the catalyst.
When the world does not seem to show dramatic change, is the result always going to end in violence? Is this where all communities are headed (most likely far in the future) in the face of increasing effects from climate change? What will our stories from today look like in the future? What mode of government could make non-human entities such as the Niger Delta become political bodies?
What struck me most while reading about Ken Saro-Wiwa’s experience being illegally detained and his previous acts fighting against Shell is that his behavior is regarded by the Nigerian government and others as extreme. He writes, “Over the past 32 years Ogani has offered Nigeria an estimated US 30 billion dollars and received nothing in return, except a blighted countryside, and atmosphere full of carbon dioxide…a land which is, in every sense of the term, an ecological disaster” (51). He then goes on to claim that the only thing that will save the Ogani region and culture is political autonomy, and “the right to use a fair proportion of Ogani resources for the development of Ogani–its education, health, agriculture, and culture” (51). There is a strong history of oppression against the Ogani people who are a minority in Nigeria. When Saro-Wiwa was a graduate student, he published a work on the civil war of 1969 over the control of oil resources and ethnic minorities. The policies which emerged after the war lead to the environmental degradation of Ogani and the dehumanisation of the Ogani people that Saro-Wiwa was fighting against. The Nigerian government does not see the Ogani resistance as logical–the result of a century of oppression and cultural assimilation–but rather something radical. But the Ogani people are fighting for basic rights and ownership over their own land, for clean water, electricity, and jobs, for proper education, for political autonomy and representation in the federal government, for a safe, healthy, clean environment free of pollution, for a fair portion of profit from the unsustainable extraction of oil reserves. What they are asking for is not excessive, nor is it an infringement upon others rights (except maybe the right to use an excessive amount of oil in developed countries), while the acts of the Nigerian government and the Shell corporation violate essentially every natural right of the Ogani people. It is furthermore admirable Saro-Wiwa and the Ogani people’s commitment to non-violent protest, when the acts of Shell and Nigerian elites are arguably extremely violent against the Ogani people.
On the other hand, we cannot entirely blame the Shell corporation for the destruction of Ogani and its people when we are the ones providing demand for their resources. Like a lot of things, our personal use of petroleum is both destructive of the environment and of the social/cultural/personal wellbeing of the communities from which we derive these resources. Every time we drive a car, for example, we are exploiting these people and their environment.
My question is, what is the most effective way, for us as SD students but more so as Americans, to support the resistance of people like the Ogani? By protesting big oil companies ourselves, by getting involved in politics, by living and promoting alternative lifestyles such as community economies or ecovillages? I guess in other words my question is, should our own resistance be directed at changing things in our own communities or focused on fighting for the rights of people that our lives inherently exploit and destroy like the Ogani? Will both of these occur simultaneously?
In SD2700 I was introduced to the corrupt and elusive practices of Shellco and its treatment of the community in Diamond, LA and likewise in Ogoniland. Saro-Wiwa and his efforts to resist Shell’s treatment of them and their land was so bold and influential on movements of the same and of other natures. Sweet Crude gave me visuals and more personal experiences in how this entity impacted the previously colonized land and its continued effects. The power of individuals building support to fight the power of evil intentions was so strong and it helped expose the industry for its wrongdoings to a higher platform. The continued lies and plots by the ties of the Nigerian government and the Oil industry led to Ken Saro-Wiwa’s death, but thanks to his incredible words of encouragement and assembly and uniting of his people, the efforts to fight for justice and equity are still intact and the narrative cannot be cloaked by the industry much longer. The film made me hopeful at the end, and more aware of the continued fights globally. “And we must get absolutely ready for the achievement of our desires, because the challenges which that achievement will pose are as tough as any that have gone before.” (76) His drive to speak for and protect the future of his people and his home creates a movement that shows the battle of values and intentions. Even though the awareness of the size of the battle they have entered into will be long and painful and exposing, they know that it is worth every challenge they face. No matter the suppression or counteractions taken during the battle, realizing what’s at stake maintains their desire for change and sovereignty. My question however is on how we can be more exposing of corruption, when governments do anything to suppress our voices and conceal their actions, like when Ken was wrongly murdered by his own country? It makes me crazy sometimes when we learn about these issues but then the ability to expose these are so hard to convey, but also so frustrating when governments and people ARE aware yet no actions are taken.