Episode description

This year it will be 30 years since Nigerian author and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian military government for leading protests against environmental pollution caused by oil exploration.

He remains an icon of resistance against environmental degradation beyond Nigeria.

The campaigns he led saw the exploration of crude oil stopped in Ogoniland, in the country’s Niger Delta region, after it became clear oil spills had extensively polluted rivers and farmland, destroying the livelihoods of farmers and fishers.

A report published by the United Nations Environmental Programme in 2011 said cleaning pollution in Ogoniland could take up to 30 years.

Yet president Bola Tinubu recently announced that his government would begin negotiations to resume oil production in Ogoniland.

This sparked protests from environmental rights groups who warned that the region was yet to heal from the damage wrought by decades of oil exploration.

In today’s Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja has been speaking to lawyer and leading environmental activist Celestine Akpobari and Niger-Delta-based journalist Ndume Green.

Producer: Peter Musembi