The name Ken Saro-Wiwa is almost one and same with Ogoniland and its people; a minority group within Nigeria’s Niger Delta who have repeatedly experienced human rights violations since commercially viable oil field was discovered on their land by Royal Dutch/Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in 1958. As is the case with highly oppressive conditions, the Ogoni Story has been one of woes amid plenty; story of a people ruthlessly exploited and denied their right to peaceful and healthy existence. The Ogoni struggle and Ken Saro Wiwa’s part in it is a clear representation of how power imbalance affects society’s helpless and creates unfair suffering for people with no voice. The history of exploration and drilling of crude oil in Ogoni is all about human rights violations. Activities of oil multinationals in Ogoniland has only produced extreme environmental degradation from decades of indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping – a clear denial of the rights of the natives to live in freedom and safety. August 2015 is doubly special as the month Rivers State Government took steps to immortalize the man who lived and died an environmental activist, writer, spokesperson and president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). In his non-violent campaign against environmental degradation of Ogoniland and waters by the operations of oil multinationals, Ken-Saro-Wiwa was an outspoken critic of government institutions seen to be perpetrating human rights abuses. Though Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged on November 10, 1995 over trumped up charges of allegedly masterminding the gruesome murder of Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government meeting, history continues to hold him up as the voice of Ogoni voiceless, a man who lived all his life fighting a cause he believed in and eventually died for. Today, Ken Saro-Wiwa’s name is synonymous with the struggles for freedom, right to life and dignity of human persons. It is, indeed, heartwarming to note that Rivers State House of Assembly, in recognition of the monumental achievements of this great son of the state, has passed a bill which gives legal backing to the renaming of the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori. after the late environmentalist. Record has it that while honourable lawmakers were debating the Executive bill sent by Governor Nyesom Wike for the amendment of Section 1, Sub-section (1) of the Rivers State Polytechnic Law, No 2, 1989 to reflect the change in name, they unanimously agreed that Ken Saro-Wiwa’s service to old Rivers State as Education Commissioner helped to ensure that Rivers people ranked among equals in the country’s education sector during his tenure. His service to his people fought for respect of their dignity and the emancipation of the entire Niger Delta. Everyone who knows or has read about Ken Saro-Wiwa and his passion for education would understand the need to name a tertiary institution after this literary giant and great activist. The renaming of Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, after Ken Saro-Wiwa is, indeed, very significant as Bori serves as the birth town of the activist and traditional headquarters of Ogoni ethnic nationality. Many would wonder why so much energy should be dissipated rehashing the Ogoni struggle especially now when government appears to be taking serious actions towards ameliorating the plight of Saro–Wiwa’s people. With recent activities around Ken Saro–Wiwa’s Ogoni struggle, timing may be right to open up discussions on a very serious human rights issue within Nigeria’s tertiary education system that Wiwa would have fought against had his life not be prematurely snuffed out. Perhaps for helpless parents in Nigeria who may not have the wherewithal to embark on oversea tertiary training for their children, Ken Saro–Wiwa’s memory may once again draw government attention to certain happenings in some of our tertiary institutions that are gradually eroding the dignity or self-worth of Nigerian youths and disempowering them. With the renaming of Rivers state Polytechnic, Bori, after Ken Saro-Wiwa, there is an urgent need for the institution’s governing body to address the oppressive and psychologically dis-empowering treatment female students suffer in the hands of male a lecturers. A close friend and a lecturer in one of the Federal Universities recently shared harrowing stories from her niece, of how female students of this citadel of learning are sexually harassed, recklessly molested and made to engage in transactional sex with lecturers in order to earn marks, pass courses or graduate from school. The stories which initially sounded like something out of a Nigerian home movie were eventually confirmed when my friend interviewed several other students who were friends of her niece from the Polytechnic. These stories become more discomforting when facts available reveal that most of the students who suffer victimization in the hands of these lecturers are children of poor voiceless parents whose families had to scrimp, save and beg in order to give their children good education. Students are not only denied the right to reject such unfair sexual advances but are stripped of their human dignity by same people who should be seen protecting and promoting such rights. Opportunities for complaints over lecturer’s misconduct are virtually non-existent and where one exists, they make no room for victim protection or confidentiality. Rejection of such sexual advances adds up to more years of failure, frustration and humiliation for students. As heart rending as the stories from Bori Polytechnic are, they are not peculiar to that institution alone as most institutions of higher learning in this country have the same negative trend of sexual harassment and pressure on students to engage in transactional sex in order to pass exams. The plague has eaten deep into our educational system that even male students sometimes face same dilemma from some of their female lecturers. One wonders at this point whether institutions of higher learning in Nigeria are not regulated in any way and if they are regulated, what falls under the regulatory radar of relevant authorities. Most Nigerian parents will definitely be interested to know how our children and wards can be shielded from the philandering clutches of some lecturers who by their conduct are not only destroying the excellent work so many of their colleagues are doing but also have no business training the nation’s future leaders. So many of our tertiary institutions are named after Nigerian citizens who have distinguished themselves through their selfless service to the country, the question to ask is how many of such institutions actually hold up the qualities of the personality whose names they bear? How many have structures that could be termed ‘safe’ enough to encourage our wards speak out against sexual harassment from their teachers and not suffer victimization from the system. The wind of change is still blowing across government institutions; Change in government in Rivers State is already blowing good tidings into Ogoniland with the renaming of the State Polytechnic. Perhaps re-naming this citadel of learning after an Ogoni son and one of Nigeria’s foremost human rights icon is providential. Late Ken Saro Wiwa fought for the rights of the oppressed all his life. He left a legacy that speaks on need to protect the dignity of all human beings especially the vulnerable among us.
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