PODCASTS

WALE LAWAL • JANUARY 22, 2025

SEASON 2 EP.2, PART I - THE POLITICAL RISE OF KEN SARO-WIWA (PART I)

Before he became an activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa was a writer, television producer and politician. This episode traces his early life, his role in the Nigerian Civil War, and the experiences that shaped his worldview.

WALE LAWAL • JANUARY 29, 2025

SEASON 2 EP.2, PART II - THE POLITICAL RISE OF KEN SARO-WIWA (PART II)

Continuing from Part I, this episode follows Saro-Wiwa's transformation from a public intellectual into the leader of a mass movement, as the environmental destruction in Ogoniland became impossible to ignore.

WALE LAWAL • FEBRUARY 5, 2025

SEASON 2 EP.3 - THE OGONI CRISIS

This episode examines the escalating conflict between the Ogoni people, Shell, and the Nigerian military. As MOSOP gained international attention, the state's response grew increasingly violent.

WALE LAWAL • FEBRUARY 12, 2025

SEASON 2 EP.4 - THE KANGAROO COURT

Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists were tried before a specially convened military tribunal. This episode exposes the proceedings — widely condemned by international observers as a sham trial designed to deliver a predetermined verdict.

WALE LAWAL • FEBRUARY 19, 2025

SEASON 2 EP.5 - THE OGONI 8

While Saro-Wiwa's name is the most widely known, eight other men were executed alongside him. Who were the Ogoni 8, and what were their stories?

WALE LAWAL • FEBRUARY 26, 2025

SEASON 2 EP.6 - THE EXECUTION

On 10 November 1995, the Abacha regime executed Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8 by hanging. This episode reconstructs the final days, the international outcry, and the immediate political fallout.

WALE LAWAL • MARCH 5, 2025

SEASON 2 EP.7 - ‘WE ALL STAND BEFORE HISTORY’

In 2006, Nigerian-British sculptor Sokari Douglas-Camp was commissioned by Platform to create a work of art in honour of Ken Saro-Wiwa. She created a life-sized replica of a Nigerian steel bus called ‘Battle Bus: Living Memorial for Ken Saro-Wiwa’. In 2015, when the bus arrived at the Lagos Seaport for a commemoration in Bori, it was impounded by port authorities. Nearly 30 years since the executions, what is it about Saro-Wiwa that continues to aggravate the Nigerian ruling establishment? How have the Ogoni people come to terms with the execution of the Ogoni Nine and the unresolved environmental crisis? What does the Niger Delta crisis tell us about what it means to be Nigerian?

WALE LAWAL • OCTOBER 29, 2023

SEASON 1 EP.2 - MKO: THE MAN NIGERIA WAITED TO SEE

This episode explores the life and political ambitions of Chief MKO Abiola — the billionaire businessman who won the June 12 election. Who was MKO Abiola, and what made his candidacy both historic and deeply complicated?

WALE LAWAL • NOVEMBER 5, 2023

SEASON 1 EP.3 - SDP & NRC: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN

Babangida's transition programme created two political parties by decree — the Social Democratic Party and the National Republican Convention. This episode examines the architecture of Nigeria's managed democracy experiment and the tensions it produced.

WALE LAWAL • NOVEMBER 19, 2023

SEASON 1 EP.4 - JUNE 12: HOPE DEFERRED

The election happened, Nigerians voted, and then the results were annulled. This episode chronicles the immediate aftermath of the annulment and the political crisis it ignited across Nigeria.

WALE LAWAL • NOVEMBER 19, 2023

SEASON 1 EP.5 - JUNE 12: FREEST AND FAIREST OF THEM ALL

What made the June 12 election so remarkable? This episode revisits the day itself — the turnout, the mood, and the extraordinary cross-ethnic coalition that delivered MKO Abiola's victory.

WALE LAWAL • NOVEMBER 26, 2023

SEASON 1 EP.6 - JUNE 12: THE REST IS HISTORY

In the season finale, Wale Lawal traces the long aftermath of June 12 — from Abacha's seizure of power to MKO Abiola's death in detention, and the enduring legacy of the struggle for Nigerian democracy.