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Afenifere remembers Saro-Wiwa, seeks confab
By Clifford Ndujihe
THE pan-Yoruba socio-economic and political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday urged President Olusegun Obasanjo to address the issues raised by the late Kenule Saro-Wiwa as regards the problems of the Niger Delta.
According to the group, the issues raised by Saro-Wiwa, who was hanged by the government of the late military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, are germane to the resolution of the Niger Delta crises.
Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders were killed on November 10, 1995 for alleged murder of Chief Albert Badey, following their conviction on October 31, 1995, by the Ogoni Civil Disturbances (Special) Tribunal in Port Harcourt, which was chaired by Justice Ibrahim Auta. The move attracted severe sanctions from the Commonwealth and international communities.
Saro-Wiwa had, before he was killed, insisted that he was fighting to redress the environmental despoliation of his region.
In a tribute to the Ogoni nine, whose killings the Afenifere described as "one of the greatest crimes committed by the Abacha junta", the group urged President Obasanjo to accede to the clamour for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC).
In a statement by Mr. Yinka Odumakin, (national publicity secretary), entitled: "Nine Years After Ken: The Issues He Raised", Afenifere said recurring events showed that Saro-Wiwa did not die in vain.
"Afenifere pays tributes to the memory of the Ogoni nine whose lives were taken by the criminal Nigerian state in an attempt to suppress the Ogoni people's agitation for a fair share of their God-given resources. It is now clear that they did not die in vain", Odumakin said.
Saro-Wiwa, according to Odumakin, predicted in one of his prison notes that even if the Nigerian state succeeded in killing him, the fire he kindled would burn throughout the Niger Delta Region.
"True to his prophecy, Nigeria has not been able to guarantee peace in the Niger Delta for the past nine years. That a presidential jet would be deployed nine years after to fetch Asari Dakubo to Aso Rock and the Federal Government would openly be buying arms from him is a lesson to those in power in Nigeria that you cannot kill a message with the messengers", Afenifere said.
For peace to reign in the Niger Delta, the group said the souls of the Ogoni nine must be appeased. "And the only way to do that is to address the issues MOSOP, under Saro-Wiwa, brought to the fore about the just relations between the Nigerian government/international oil explorers and the people of the oil-rich region who own the resources", it said.
"There is no better forum than an SNC where all nationalities in Nigeria would fashion out the rules of the engagement and their grievances can be collectively addressed.
"We appeal to President Obasanjo to accede to the demand for a conference without delay so as to wrong Dokubo's statement that the Nigerian government is deaf, it only listens to those who are armed. It would be a dangerous thing for the polity if such an opinion becomes too popular", Afenifere added.
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