Voting Station

Ken Saro-Wiwa

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Advocate

The Resume

    (October 10, 1941-November 10, 1995)
    Born in Bori, Nigeria
    Full name was Kenule Beeson Saro Wiwa
    Ogoni ethnicity
    Campaigned against the environmental damage caused by waste dumping from petroleum extraction
    Wrote and directed 'Basi and Company' (1985-1990)
    Wrote 'Songs in a Time of War' (1985), 'Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English' (1985), 'Forest of Flowers' (1986), and 'Africa Kills Her Sun' (1989)
    Co-founded Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (1990)
    Vice Chair of Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (1993-1995)
    Received Right Livelihood Award (1994) and Goldman Environmental Prize (1995)
    Hanged along with eight other environmental activists

Why he might be annoying:

    He looked like Eddie Murphy.
    During the Nigerian Civil War, he sided with the Nigerian government to defeat the Biafrians.
    He was unable to prevent some MOSOP members from engaging in terrorism.
    The Nigerian government accused him of getting involved in the murder of four Ogoni chiefs. (May 21, 1994)
    His execution resulted in Nigeria's temporary suspension from the Commonwealth.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His homeland, Ogoniland, was turned into a dumping ground for petroleum waste by oil companies extracting oil in the Niger Delta, particularly Shell.
    He criticized widespread corruption and military patronage in Nigeria.
    The Nigerian government imprisoned him for months without trial. (1992)
    The trial that indicted him guilty for alleged involvement in the Ogoni chief murders was a sham, which might imply his innocence.
    Upon his execution, his body was burned with acid before being buried in an unmarked grave.

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 76.92% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 68 Votes: 50.0% Annoying