The Ogoni people are a minority ethnic group in Nigeria — at the last census, there were 500,000 Ogoni people in Nigeria, which has 100 million people. Ogoniland was the first area that Shell Oil Company secured for its oil exploration and extraction operations in 1958. Since Shell’s arrival, there have been several oil spills, which have devastated the area’s lands and waters, with little compensation or cleanup by the oil company.

The Ogoni people are not alone in suffering from oil pollution. Their experience is common to all other oil-rich ethnic nationalities. They were simply the first to speak out and organize effectively for change.

In the 1980s, they created an environmental organization called MOSOP (the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People) to address the twin issues of environmental degradation caused by Shell and of human rights abuses caused by the Nigerian military. By 1994, MOSOP had gained national and international attention.

To a large extent much of MOSOP’s success derives from the vision and reach of its main founder Kenule Saro-Wiwa, an internationally acclaimed writer, playwright, film producer and poet who used his talents to tell the Ogoni story to people in Nigeria as well as to the international community. He also wrote the Ogoni Bill of Rights and developed the inclusive and participatory structure of the movement.

Through his efforts, MOSOP has grown into a major grassroots organization. In one demonstration captured on tape by the BBC in a film called "Drilling Fields", 300,000 people came out to celebrate Ogoni Day and to make demands that Shell clean up the waters and lands polluted by oil and gas flares. This kind of organized, grassroots movement, based as it is on an internal constitution (the Ogoni Bill of Rights), is rare in Nigeria.

Ken Saro-Wiwa was later framed for murder by the military, tried by a military tribunal that violated his rights to a fair trial, and hanged in 1995. His last letter, smuggled out of prison ten days before his death, remains a compelling call to humanity’s conscience.

While MOSOP is facing some serious internal and external challenges, the movement’s successful mobilization of all groups within Ogoniland and other similarly abused ethnic minorities serves as a model of how we bring marginalized communities and critical issues to the center.

We couldn’t wait to get there.

We arrived late, by several hours. We had expected informal meetings, mainly with MOSOP’s Women’s Wing, a very active and well respected division of the organization. Apparently though, hundreds of people from the other divisions of MOSOP from all the surrounding kingdoms of Ogoniland had come to meet with us. After waiting for several hours, most of them had left.

Profusely expressed apologies did little to cut through the annoyance people felt at being kept waiting. So there was nothing for it but to cancel our trip to Calabar, an ancient city scheduled for the following day to return to Ogoniland, on time, for a chance to listen to the different groups of MOSOP.

On Sunday, we arrived punctually at 2.00p.m. First, we made a brief stop at Saro-Wiwa’s parents’ home. There, we had a chance to listen to Ken Saro Wiwa's parents and others in the movement (PICTURE 1).

As you can see from the picture, Ken Saro Wiwa’s dad (seated, wearing black) and his mum (also seated, wearing white with a white head wrap and red shawl) are quite old but continue to provide moral leadership to members of MOSOP. Ken Saro-Wiwa is also in the picture, captured in the poster titled "Great Ogoni Man" on the right wall.

Next, we were taken to the community meeting place, a huge church, where over a thousand people were already gathered. In the course of a three our visit, we learned beautiful Ogoni songs sung by the women's group (PICTURE 2); listened as the Ogoni people shared stories of their suffering under military rule and their fear that their struggle was still not over; received proposals on projects that the women and youth groups were developing; and were presented with gifts — caps and wrappers in the MOSOP colors. After leaving the church, we were taken to see some of the oil spills (PICTURE 3) and gas flares (PICTURE 4).

It was really tragic to see how the beautiful, unspoiled landscape of Ogoniland was mired by the irresponsible drive for profit.

But as we drove away, the strongest impression we had was of the spirit of resilience and generosity that Ogoni people continue to display after much suffering; and the children we saw (PICTURE 5)— innocent and happy.

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