By Inalegwu Shaibu

ABUJA—THE Senate has turned down a proposal to immortalize the late Ogoni environmental activist, Mr. Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was hanged in 1995 by the military regime of late General Sani Abacha.

The proposal which came through a motion, entitled ‘Immortalization of Mr.Kenule Saro-Wiwa,’ sponsored by Senator Lee Maeba, sought the Senate’s consent to name a prominent national monument and major road in Abuja after the late Saro-Wiwa.

The motion further sought the senate’s approval of 11th November of every year to be named and recognised as ‘Ken Saro-Wiwa Day’ in Nigeria.

But the motion was rejected on the ground that it excluded many late pro-democracy fighters like Moshood Abiola and General Shehu Yar’Adua.

Senator Maeba, while leading debate on the motion, observed that the late Saro-Wiwa, who was the founder of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, dedicated himself to solving the problems of the oil rich region through a non-violent movement for social and ecological justice.

He said the late Saro-Wiwa was a strong advocate of the actualisation of the rights of Ogoni people as articulated in the Ogoni Bill of Rights.

He said: “Saro-Wiwa’s devotion of his life to human rights and environmental struggle in the Niger Delta lead to his unjust imprisonment for several months without trial and his execution for trumped-up charges along with eight others.”