My Lord,
We all stand before history. I am a man of peace, of ideas. Appalled
by the denigrating poverty of my people who live on a richly endowed
land, distressed by their political marginalization and economic
strangulation, angered by the devastation of their land, their
ultimate heritage, anxious to preserve their right to life and to a
decent living, and determined to usher to this country as a whole a
fair and just democratic system which protects everyone and every
ethnic group and gives us all a valid claim to human civilization, I
have devoted my intellectual and material resources, my very life,
to a cause in which I have total belief and from which I cannot be
blackmailed or intiidated. I have no doubt at all about the ultimate
success of my cause, no matter the trials and tribulations which I and
those who believe with me may encounter on our journey. Nor
imprisonment nor death can stop our ultimate victory.
I repeat that we all stand before history. I and my colleagues are not
the only ones on trial. Shell is here on trial and it is as well
that it is represented by counsel said to be holding a watching brief.
The Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day
will surely come and the lessons learnt here may prove useful to it
for there is no doubt in my mind that the ecological war that the
Company has waged in the Delta will be called to question sooner
than later and the crimes of that war be duly punished. The crime of
the Company+s dirty wars against the Ogoni people will also be
punshed.
On trial also is the Nigerian nation, its present rulers and those who
assist them. Any nation which can do to the weak and disadvantaged
what the Nigerian nation has done to the Ogoni, loses a claim to
independence and to freedom from outside influence. I am not one of
those who shy away from proesting injustice and oppression, arguing
that they are expected in a military regime. The military do not act
alone. They are supported by a gaggle of politicians, lawyers,
judges, academics and businessmen, all of them hiding under the claim
that they are only doing their duty, men and women too afraid to
wash their pants of urine. We all stand on trial, my lord, for by our
actions we have denigrated our Country and jeapordized the future of
our children. As we subscribe to the sub-normal and accept double
standards, as we lie and cheat openly, as we protect injustice and
oppression, we empty our classrooms, denigrate our hospitals, fill
our stomachs with hunger and elect to make ourselves the slaves of
those who ascribe to higher standards, pursue the truth, and honour
justice, freedom, and hard work. I predict that the scene here will be
played and replayed by generations yet unborn. Some have already
cast themselves in the role of villains, some are tragic victims, some
still have a chance to redeem themselves. The choice is for each
individual.
I predict that the denoument of the riddle of the Niger delta will
soon come. The agenda is being set at this trial. Whether the
peaceful ways I have favoured will prevail depends on what the
oppressor decides, what signals it sends out to the waiting public.
In my innocence of the false charges I face Here, in my utter
conviction, I call upon the Ogoni people, the peoples of the Niger
delta, and the oppressed ethnic minorities of Nigeria to stand up now
and fight fearlessly and peacefully for their rights. History is on
their side. God is on their side. For the Holy Quran says in Sura
42, verse 41:+All those that fight when oppressed incur no guilt, but
Allah shall punish the oppressor.+ Come the day.
--Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa
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