Headlines from Home (6)

Posthumous Pardons and the Dinosaurs of Africa

Nigeria: Posthumous Pardons

On June 12th, 30 years after their execution, Nigeria’s Ogoni Nine received a presidential pardon and were bestowed national honours by President Bola Tinubu. This pardon came as part of Nigeria’s Democracy Day celebrations, recognizing the Nine as heroes who made “outstanding contributions” to democracy.

These Nine activists are:

• Ken Saro-Wiwa: Founder of Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and an internationally acclaimed author.

• Dr. Barinem Kiobel: Senior official of the River States government. Dr. Kiobel was not a member of MOSOP.

• John Kpuinen: Deputy president of the National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP).

• Baribor Bera: Member of NYCOP and MOSOP youth organisation.

• Felix Nuate: Ogoni trader and farmer, and member of MOSOP

• Paul Levula: Clerical officer at Bomu health clinic and member of MOSOP.

• Saturday Dobee: Bank security guard and personal friend of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Mr. Dobee was not a member of MOSOP.

• Nordu Eawo: Member of NYCOP.

• Daniel Gbokoo: Electrician and farmer, member of NYCOP. Mr. Gbokoo was not a member of MOSOP.

The Ogoni are a minority ethnic group from the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria, they represent less than 0.05% of the nation’s population. Bound by the Imo River to the east and atop the fertile soil of Rivers State known as the “Bread Basket,” the Ogoni were historically strong fishermen and agriculturalists. In 1958, the Dutch Shell Oil Company discovered oil in Ogoniland and immediately began drilling. Since then, they have come to own over 100 oil wells in the region, resulting in over $30 Billion USD of revenue for the company. This has resulted in rapid, widespread environmental and industrial degradation leaving the Ogoni people without clean water, accessible health care or education, and reliable electricity (Oyinlade and Vincent, 2002). Oil extraction from the Niger Delta region accounts for over 75% of the nation’s export income. However, since the initial excavations of the late 1950s, Ogoniland has become one of the most polluted places in the country.

Map of Nigeria (Oyinlade and Vincent, 2002, p. 130)

In the 1990s, Ken Saro-Wiwa, writer and founder of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), alongside eight other activists, adamantly opposed the operating practices of the Dutch Shell Oil Company, described by Saro-Wiwa as an “ecological war.” The MOSOP peacefully campaigned for environmental, social and economic justice. In October 1990, the group published the Ogoni Bill of Rights calling for their political autonomy. The document outlines their demand for “control of Ogoni affairs by Ogoni people,” including adequate representation in all national institutions and the right to protect Ogoniland from further degradation. In 1993, MOSOP declared that Shell and its national partners were no longer welcome in Ogoniland. Their protests that year mobilized hundreds of thousands of Ogoni people. Military authorities, encouraged by both the government and Shell, used extreme force in response to the MOSOP protest and committed numerous human rights violations according to Amnesty International.

In 1994, the Ogoni Nine, non-violent activists, were accused of the murder of 4 pro-government Ogoni Chiefs who had publicly denounced the MOSOP. Despite evidence proving no connection between the activists and the murders, the Nine were detained and tried by a special (secret) military tribunal. The defendants were blocked from attending the two court hearings and kept in custody throughout. Over several months, Ogoni people were arrested, tortured, beaten and bribed by authorities to act as witnesses against the MOSOP leaders. The tribunal began in June 1995, and it was immediately clear that the trial was inherently flawed with false allegations and witness tampering. The Nine were officially charged with murder on October 30th, 1995, after spending over a year in Port Harcourt Prison (a maximum security facility built by British Colonialists in 1918). On November 10th, 1995, the Nine were executed.

The recent presidential pardon by President Tinubu, “falls far short of the justice the Ogoni Nine need and deserve,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, in a recent statement. The language of a presidential pardon assumes guilt on the part of the defendants, where in this case it is clear that the Ogoni Nine were innocent of any crimes. A total exoneration would be much more appropriate. Ogoni campaign groups have rejected the posthumous pardon as wholly inadequate and perpetuating injustice. Not only does it absolve the government of its role in the execution of the Ogoni Nine, it neglects the complicity of the Dutch Shell Oil Company in their murder and the devastation of their land. In 2017, widows of the Ogoni Nine, led by Esther Kiobel, launched (and lost) a civil case against the Oil giant for the role it played in the detention, trial and executions of their husbands. Amnesty International’s “In The Dock” brief outlines the company’s complicity in detail, including proof that “Shell encouraged and solicited intervention by the Nigerian security forces and the military authorities” to quell the MOSOP led protests despite previously acknowledging and documenting human rights violations by the same authorities. 30 years later, neither the Nigerian government nor the Dutch Shell Oil Company have been held accountable for the murder of these nine innocent men.

Togo: Don’t Touch My Constitution

Tides are changing for dynastic rulers on the continent. On Thursday, June 26th, protests broke out across the Togolese Republic calling for the resignation of former President Faure Gnassingbe who recently appointed himself to an unconstitutional executive role, and whose family has beene in power since 1967. Organized by activist bloggers, the protests were set to be an “unprecedented peaceful demonstration” spanning over two days. Protesters set up concrete blockades in several neighbourhoods, particularly in the capital, Lome. Amongst the protesters were Togolese youth, women market vendors, relatives of political prisoners, amongst many others who have all been frustrated by the administration for their own reasons. This uprising follows protests in May that resulted in over 20 arrests, all charged under the 2022 law that restricts the right to protest. Civil society groups are reporting seven lives lost in the most recent protests.

As a final act of his 20-year presidential term, Gnassingbe appointed himself to the role of President of the Council of Ministers; a powerful executive position with no fixed term. This move extends decades of the Gnassingbe dynastic rule over the West African country - a dynasty made possible through military coup d’etats, changes to the constitution, and the exploitation of legal and political loopholes.

After years fighting in the French army, stationed in Algeria, Niger, and Indochina, Gnassingbe Eyadéma, Faure Gnassingbé’s father, returned to Togo in 1962 when Sylvanus Olympio, first president of Togo, refused to accept veterans of the French army into Togo’s army. In response, a group of veterans organized his assassination in an, otherwise, bloodless coup in 1963. Until 1966, the military supported a civilian president then took direct control of the presidency in January 1967, installing Eyadéma as both president and minister of national defense. As president, he established a one-party political system, led by his anti-communist party, the Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais. This anti-communist position granted him the favour of the United States and France, especially given the more socialist positions of Togo’s newly independent neighbours. However, with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the rhetoric from the European Union and America changed. Suddenly, they were concerned with the state of democracy in the country and suspended aid in 1993 until Eyadéma reformed his administration. That year, Togo had its first multi-party election since it gained independence in 1960. President Eyadéma won the election, with widespread reports of electoral fraud, and secured re-election in 1998. Despite promising to step down after the end of his second elected term, Eyadéma made amendments to the constitution to abolish term limits. He went on to win the 2003 elections by a landslide. With these amendments, he also lowered the eligibility age for presidency to 35. His son, Faure Gnassingbé, turned 36 that year.

Eyadéma suffered a heart attack in early 2005 and his son was named his successor. After international outcry denouncing the move as unconstitutional, Faure Gnassingbé agreed to a democratic election and was officially installed on May 4th 2005. Immediately after the announcement, violent protests erupted across Lome leaving 22 people dead and displacing thousands of others to neighbouring Ghana and Benin. One of his first projects as president prioritized improving civil liberties and creating opportunities for national dialogue in an attempt to establish national cohesion. Through five presidential terms, Gnassingbé promised to boost economic development and return the country to its glory days of the early 60s. Yet, nearly 50% of Togo’s population lives in poverty.

His presidency was marked by public frustration over the continuation of his family’s dynasty; which Gnassingbé plans to extend further as the President of the Council of ministers. This comes as part of a complete constitutional overhaul that paves the way for a transition from a presidential regime to a parliamentary one; the most executive position being the President of the Council of Ministers. Opposition leaders have called this move deceitful and insulting to the Togolese people and political analysts have since warned that a failure to overturn these changes will lead the country into a political crisis.

Is the tide changing for the “dinosaurs” of Africa? Will we see the end of lifelong leaders on the continent?