My father, politics and I – Ken Saro Wiwa Jr.

Mr Wiwa, what can you tell us about yourself that people don’t already know? Well that’s an open ended question somewhat?! There is so much that people don’t know – I am sure I am different things to different people and whatever anyone knows about me is an incomplete picture of who I am. Anyway, […]

Mr Wiwa, what can you tell us about yourself that people don’t already know?

Well that’s an open ended question somewhat?! There is so much that people don’t know – I am sure I am different things to different people and whatever anyone knows about me is an incomplete picture of who I am. Anyway, it depends who is reading this!

How different is Ken Wiwa from Ken Saro Wiwa? I once heard you say that your father chose to die for his people and you have chosen to live for them. So how really different are you from your father?

We’re one but not the same. Like everyone else, I am like my father in some respects and different in others. I grew up in different circumstances; I live in a different Nigeria. Some things are the same, some are different. What unites us are the values he gave me – discipline, hard work, firm belief in justice and hatred of injustice. Also Ken Wiwa is my nom de plume. I was born and still am Kenule Bornale Saro-Wiwa. All my official documents, passports etc bear my real name. I only use Ken Wiwa to identify me as a writer that is separate from Ken Saro-Wiwa, my father.

The Association of Nigerian Authors is planning a colloquium to honour your father. What is your reaction to that?

I think it is appropriate –Nigeria needs to honour its heroes. This country is yet to venerate my father appropriately. He is more celebrated outside Nigeria than here. As they say, a prophet is rarely recognised in his own country. ANA has always been different though so kudos to them.

To what extent do you think that your father’s reputation and actions determine how people relate to you?

Well sometimes people come with preconceptions. Most people are not judged by what their parents did or didn’t do. For me it’s sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse. It can open doors or it can be used against me.

At a reading you had sometime in January in Abuja, someone called on you to dump you appointment in government and take up militancy to continue your father’s struggle. Have you been having calls like that?

Yes sometimes! Others also insist that I carry on working in government to gain more experience. I suspect I am not the first or last man who has had to face such conflicting advice!

Your book, In the Shadow of a Saint, deals with your relationship with your father and some people say it is very bold, considering all the details you included, why did you choose to write the book that way?

I started off writing a very different book. I set out to write about my father and ended writing about our relationship! I didn’t think it was particularly bold – people tend to shy away from complexity in this country. Everything has to be black and white – North and South, Christian, Muslim. The reality is that human beings are complex characters and in the end I hope I showed that to be a hero like Ken Saro-Wiwa is to make a lot of painful, personal sacrifices. There was nothing bold really about it just an attempt to tell the truth the way I saw it and lived it.

Do you feel under pressure to write in keeping with your father’s antecedent?

No, not really. The pressure is internal mostly. I enjoy writing, I have something I want to say and I am arrogant enough to think I can communicate it better than most. If you are given a gift you better use it otherwise you will die with regrets or unfulfilled!

I know you are writing something at the moment, can you tell us more about that?

No. You should know better than never to ask a writer what he is working on at the moment! If you get a negative response it usually means maybe it’s not going as well as he or she would hope!

You were thrust into the arena of international politics quite early in your life in an attempt to rescue you father, and in your book you mentioned your disenchantment with politics and politicians. Has you view changed?

I was a young man responding to the way politicians handled my father’s predicament. People like Nelson Mandela misjudged the situation. Others were cynical and were more concerned about being seen to be doing something by having photo opportunities with me to show that they were concerned about the plight of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni. I am older, wiser and have come to terms with the second worst day of my life and I now believe that politicians are capable of good things and are also capable of terrible things!

How has that experience affected your development?

It has made me wary of politics for sure but it also taught me a great deal about life. And death.

You mentioned your second worst day. What would you say is your worst day ever?

As for the worst day that would be March 15th 1993 when my youngest brother died aged 14 of heart failure.

You used to work as a journalist before you returned to Nigeria. Is there any moment that stands out for you in your journalism career?

Well not really. I suspect my journalism career is not over but if I have to choose any highlight it would be my last job as a weekly columnist for the Toronto Globe and Mail in Canada. I think it was partly as a result of my work there that I was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2005. So I suppose that has to be a highlight as a journalist.

Can you tell us more about your role in government?

I am a Special Assistant to the President on International Affairs. I have a broad schedule and work to specific assignments as they arise but my schedule is to interact with foreign media, diplomatic missions and other external stakeholders including civil society.

And to what extent has your appointment affected your writing. Obviously, you are now very busy, do you get time to write that much?

Well I stopped writing every week obviously. More worryingly is that my reading has not been as broad. I’m sure I would have had another book out by now – in fact I would have done but for my appointment. Anyway I still feel I have three books left in me so time will tell.