Paper short abstract:

To re assess the role of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his environmental struggle in Ogoni land in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, and argue why the role and activities of the non-state actors seems more relevant and compelling now.

Paper long abstract:

The killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the environmental activist, and Ogoni nine – for inciting the people against the state – sparked international condemnation during the military regime of General Sanni Abacha in Nigeria. However, their quest for improving the environment in the oil-rich Niger Delta region remains unaccomplished years after they were killed. Saro-Wiwa presented the agony of the Ogoni people through drama, writing of books and internationalisation of the happenings in the region. This frontally engaged the activities of the Abacha regime and the multinational oil companies. Although there have been attempts by successive government to address the environmental degradation in the region, such efforts have not achieved the ultimate goal of cleaning and reversing the impacts of multinational oil companies in the region. In this paper, I will revisit and reappraise the activities of Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni nine as non-state actors. Adopting qualitative method the paper will argue that the role of the non-state actors was a preconditions for redressing the environmental challenges in the Niger Delta. It will demonstrate that this role directly instigated the government response to the environmental challenges. The paper notes that while tremendous gains have been recorded in the region due to various intervention introduced by the government, the recent change in climate has further exacerbated the existing challenges in the region, thus, requiring unrelenting role of non-state actors in the region.