In 1995 the Nigerian military regime under General Sani Abacha hanged Ken Saro-Wiwa, the writer and minority rights activist, with eight other members of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, after a judicially flawed trial. The hangings were a critical event, both for the Nigerian junta and for Royal Dutch/Shell, the major international oil company operating in the Niger delta. Okonta re-examines the evidence concerning the Ogoni struggle for self-determination and raises questions about its origins and implications as a case study of politics in post-colonial Africa.
