28 years ago today, my father Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight of his colleagues were murdered for protesting against oil spills in the Niger Delta. We will never forget. ❤️
#ogoni9
#kensarowiwa
#Nigeria
27 yrs ago today my father, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and 8 colleagues were judicially murdered by the Nigerian military govt for campaigning against oil pollution in the Niger Delta. I again ask president
@MBuhari
to please exonerate the Ogoni 9, for the sake of all Nigerians
#kensarowiwa
Another year, another plea for Nigeria’s govt to exonerate my father, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the rest of the
#Ogoni9
who were executed on false treason charges 26 years ago today for seeking human rights and environmental justice. Help
#Nigeria
heal and move forward 🙏
#kensarowiwa
Ken Saro-Wiwa and his 8 colleagues died 24 years today in their fight to protect the Niger Delta environment. The oil pollution still hasn’t been cleaned up, and the authorities want to resume oil extraction in Ogoniland. We mustn’t let that happen.
#ogoni9
#nigerdelta
#hyprep
The Nigerian government cannot call itself civilised or claim moral authority while it refuses to exonerate
#kensarowiwa
and his 8 colleagues. Black lives will matter outside Africa only when they matter in Africa itself.
#pardonkensarowiwa
#pardontheogoni9
#Buhari
I’m presenting this BBC radio programme about the last writings of my father, Ken Saro-Wiwa. Been postponed a few times, but will finally be broadcast on January 15th
'Silence Would Be Treason' the last writings of Ken Saro-Wiwa - first broadcast next week, January 15th on BBC World Service. Presented by
@noosarowiwa
and voiced by
@BArogundade
When my late brother Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr met then Senator Barack Obama they gave each other signed copies of their books (my brother wrote In The Shadow of a Saint). This is Obama’s message to Ken, who would’ve turned 51 today ❤️
#barackobama
#obama
#kensarowiwajr
Look who I bumped into yesterday — my boy, Joe Gomez, Liverpool’s centre back!! Only Covid stopped me wrestling him to the ground and kissing every inch of his face. My life is COMPLETE!! 😁🙏
#restraint
#ynwa
#liverpoolfc
#joegomez
#LFC
I speak in this new documentary about the
#Nigeria
football team, which won Olympic gold in 1996 soon after my activist father, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was murdered. Featuring players like Jay Jay Okocha and Celestine Babayaro. “SuperEagles'96”
Been sitting on this for months, but can finally share the news! My travelogue about Africans in China will be published in 2023. Thanks
@epwa66
Here’s to a more prolific decade of writing😊🤞🏾
Canongate lands explorer Saro-Wiwa's 'unique' China travelogue
Gordon Brown recalls how other heads of state addressed Queen Elizabeth as "Your majesty or ma'am, etc." Nelson Mandela would say, "Elizabeth, how's the Duke?" 😂✊🏾
We’re going to Greenland next year! In the footsteps of the legendary Tete-Michel Kpomassie, author of an “African in Greenland”. Huge thanks to
@Hidden_Compass
for this opportunity. I’ll be travelling with the fabulous
@LolaAkinmade
@erikjaraker
Can’t wait.
The 2022
#PathfinderPrize
winner has been announced — and they’re going to Greenland! Congratulations to the expedition team, “In Tété’s Footsteps.” Hidden Compass and our Allies look forward to hearing about your discoveries, Pathfinders!
@LolaAkinmade
@noosarowiwa
@erikjaraker
Wow, this has made my day! Thanks, Dan :)
I’ve been enjoying the other docs on the platform too... learned a whole lot about Haitian history the other night 😊
This new documentary on the First Britons, a Bronze Age history with
@noosarowiwa
has just broken records to become the most watched ever show on History Hit TV! Congratulations!
My broad overview of my father
#kensarowiwa
‘s environmental campaign against Shell Oil and its legacy in the Niger Delta.
#nigerdelta
#nigeria
Date with history: Justice my father died for | Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank
We are nearing our £5K fundraising target. But we need another £500 within the next 7 days to implement the first solar PV project in the Niger Delta where reliance on fossil fuels is killing our environment. Please give what you can. Many thanks🙏🏾
Dinner with fabulous travel writer/ photographer
@LolaAkinmade
, author of Lagom - a Swedish word/philosophy which roughly means “just the right amount”. Nothing ‘lagom’ about my meal, though: too much wine, too many tacos, too much laughter 😆
#lagom
#Sverige
#Nigeria
My latest review for
@TheTLS
.
@Tim_Hannigan
‘s excellent book examines the
#travelwriting
genre from all angles. He interviews some of the greats, incl. William Dalrymple and Sara Wheeler (who more or less calls Colin Thubron a liar, lol)
My latest piece for
@CNTraveler
- a feature about
#Lagos
#Nigeria
. It was commissioned and written last year, before Covid and the tragic shootings/ arrests of peaceful EndSARS protesters. May their spirit of defiance live on 🇳🇬
I’ve presented a documentary with Dr Selina Brace for Dan Snow’s
@HistoryHit
about
#Cheddarman
, a
#Mesolithic
fossil. DNA analysis shows he had dark skin/blue eyes, which raises questions about who the indigenous Brits are 🙂 Producer:
@MarkBowsherFilm
The View from the Ground: Marking 25 years since the execution of
#KenSaroWiwa
and 8 other Ogoni men, IHRB's
@SalilTripathi
talks with
@NooSaroWiwa
, Ledum Mitee, and Austin Onuoha about their impact in Nigeria. ⬇️
#ogoni9
An excerpt from my next travel book (currently in progress) about Africans living in China; part of the new Daughters of Africa Anthology. Can’t wait to read the other stories. Many thanks
#MargaretBusby
😊
@anniemedz
#africansinchina
#china
My latest piece for
@cntraveller
. I accidentally included Wendell Steavenson in the list (oops) but her book on Georgia is an excellent read nonetheless 😊
#diversereads
#travelwriting
My latest piece for the Times Literary Supplement — on the LGBT panel discussions at this year’s Africa Writes literary festival
@CassavaRepublic
@FrankieEdozien
Brits in the time of
#coronavirus
are getting a sneak peak of life as an average
#Nigerian
: uncertain financial future, limited hospital beds, and international travel restrictions coz nobody wants you in their country.
Proud to be a judge on this year's Jhalak Prize, promoting books that might otherwise have skipped readers' radar. Deciding this
#shortlist
was agony... had to omit some real beauties. Well done to all the authors :-)
#mustread
Join me at Wimbledon Library on Thurs October 28 for my talk about my travels and photography in the Niger Delta. This’ll be my first real-life, non-virtual event in a long time 😊 Click on link for tickets
This
#BlackHistoryMonth
@MertonLibraries
have lots of fun events to join in with, including:
🎤Talks with author
@noosarowiwa
on her travels in the Niger Delta
🕷️Kids Anansi spider coding & craft session
📜Heritage displays
❗Some events require booking👇
Beautiful sculptures by
@S_DouglasCamp
at the October Gallery. I caught the show 20 minutes before it closed 😅 Can still see more of them at the Victoria & Albert museum 👌🏾
My latest book review for the Times Literary Supplement: a dramatic and entertaining memoir by Caribbean author Maryse Condé, who pulls no punches about her time in Africa in the 1960s.
Dialogue of bodies
#MaryseConde
#tls
#caribbeanliterature
#bookreview
#EdnaAdanIsmail
‘s autobiog. What a woman: Anti-
#FGM
fighter; Somaliland’s 1st ever midwife; the only foreign minister to deliver triplets while in office. She once competed in a men-only car rally disguised as a bloke; and built
#Somaliland
‘s 1st maternity hospital. Legend.🙌🏾
At 4.30pm today (London) I’ll be presenting on
#BBCradio
, exploring the theme of
#touch
through
#poetry
. Physical touch is something we’ve all been missing in these socially distanced
#Covid
times - especially those of us who have lost loved ones.
Looking forward to speaking this Saturday, May 26th, at the
@BareLit
Festival. Will have a nuanced discussion with Bridget Minamore about cultural criticism and who gets to decide what makes good or bad art, music, literature and food. Tickets here:
Curfew in Barcelona last night. The juxtaposition of the man on the piano playing “Eternal Flame” by The Bangles and the scene unfolding behind them is quite something.
My article on
#Covid
in
#Nigeria
in 2020 for
#Commonwealth
Journal of International Affairs. Lockdown in
#portharcourt
: the rich drove their Mercs to the slums at 2am to buy food in illegal night market. That and other stories (government response, etc).
I’ll be discussing travel writing at the Ake Arts & Book Festival in Lagos on Oct 27. Looking forward to hearing other panel discussions too... lots of great writers on the schedule.
Noo Saro-Wiwa
@noosarowiwa
is the author of Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria (Granta, 2012) which was selected as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week in 2012, and named The UK Sunday Times Travel Book of the Year 2012.
#Akefest18
Ugandan activist and writer Stella Nyanzi was imprisoned in 2017. She speaks about her ordeal and how PEN International’s support helped her get through it (PEN International defends freedom of expression) via
@YouTube
Interesting BBC Radio 4 series about environmental activists. This episode (by novelist Helon Habila) focuses on my father, with contribution from my sister, Zina
#kensarowiwa
#nigerdelta
#nigeria
Thanks
@kerrysmith01
for including me on this piece about where writers write. Never had the luxury of a study – luckily I can write anywhere, so long as I have peace of mind. Find out where DBC Pierre and John Simpson, et al. get their work done :)
My teen record collection was mainly
#mixtapes
coz I couldn't afford albums. Even now, when I hear Prince's Take Me With You, I still think Deelite's Groove Is In the Heart will play afterwards 😂
#LouOttens
, inventor of the
#cassettetape
, dies aged 94
My round-up of Michelle Obama’s book talk at the Southbank Centre. So glad I was ableto attend. Amazing talk, amazing woman 😊
@MichelleObama
@southbankcentre
Thank you
@BareLit
for an excellent panel discussion today; enjoyed talking with the awesome Bridget Minamore and audience. Great food in the green room too :-)
#BareLit18
Lovely endorsement from Sara Wheeler, whose book, Terra Incognita I read in a Cape Town hotel room in 2003 and made me depressed because it was too good 😆
#lookingfortranswonderland
Re-reading this by
@noosarowiwa
and hugely enjoying it in today's climate of cultural reckoning. 'How I wished we held the cultural monopoly on the portrayal of African history’, Saro-Wiwa writes, reflecting on a frank Nigerian glance backwards in Calabar.
My latest review for the
@TLS
:
"Humans are a contradictory species ... We tend to demonize the unknown, yet we often believe that heaven must exist on the other, unseen side";
The Half Known Life by Pico Iyer | Book review | The TLS
My interview with awesome diasporan Nigerian tapas joint, Chuku’s. Thanks Emeka for this interview... so refreshing to be asked about things like pounded yam for a change 😄
#nigeria
Many thanks to Aké Literary Festival for giving me the chance to fan-girl the novelist Maryse Condé in this documentary. Fabulous woman 😄🙌🏾
#AkeFest2020
#maryseconde
Attending one of my favourite literary festivals on June 17-20 in Nantes, France. Covid better not mess this up... I will swim across the Channel if I have to 😆
@IfeomaOzoma
blew the whistle on her tech company and got racist abuse for it. But she fought back and has now co-sponsored new California law designed to protect
#whistleblowers
🙌🏾🎉
WE DID IT!😭
Words can't fully capture what this means but we named the bill Silenced No More so I’ll say a bit.😂
Abusing workers then forcing silence - under the threat of lost income and healthcare - is depraved. As of Jan 1, 40 MILLION people no longer have to stay silent.
NY Times asks whether it's ethical to travel to countries that persecute people based on their gender, sexuality, religion or ethnicity. Opinions from travel writers, including Pico Iyer, Dervla Murphy and myself
#travel
#ethics
#travelethics
#nytimes
Come join me as I chat online with readers on Wednesday January 6th (5pm London, 2pm New York, etc.) 🙂
January Book Club: "Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria" by Noo Saro-Wiwa | The Nomadic Network.
#bookclub
#literature
Anyone got contact details for one or two good Lagos vloggers? An American network news channel is looking for someone to file a video blog on its digital channel. Inbox me. Thanks.
#Nigeria
#EndSarsNow