Nobel Laureate and human rights advocate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently investigate the unresolved, politically-linked assassinations of notable Nigerians, including Dele Giwa, Bola Ige, and Kudirat Abiola. Soyinka made the demand during an exclusive interaction with journalists in Lagos on Saturday, coinciding with the country’s Democracy Day commemorations on June 12, 2025.
Soyinka emphasized that many Nigerians at home and abroad possess crucial information that could finally unravel the circumstances behind these high-profile murders, which have lingered in national memory for decades without justice. He stressed that a comprehensive inquiry would help provide closure for the victims’ families and contribute to national healing.
The literary icon and democracy activist spoke against the backdrop of President Tinubu’s Democracy Day address to a joint session of the National Assembly, where 66 heroes of Nigeria’s pro-democracy movement were honoured, including posthumous awards for the likes of Kudirat Abiola and Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.
While Soyinka commended the gesture, he criticized the exclusion of certain key figures in Nigeria’s democratic struggle. He announced his decision to dedicate his national honour to the late Dr. Beko Ransom-Kuti, hailing him as a fearless defender of human rights and a champion of democratic ideals who endured multiple arrests and imprisonments under military rule.
“No one should trivialize the weight of the June 12 struggle,” Soyinka warned. “Many sacrificed their lives and liberty. The military junta of that era unleashed torture, imprisonment, and murder on innocent citizens. Those responsible must be held accountable in history and law.”
His comments came shortly after the Presidency denied reports of national honours conferred on activist Aisha Yesufu and 35 others, clarifying the official list of recipients released on June 13 as part of the Democracy Day events.
In a historic move, President Tinubu also granted a posthumous state pardon to environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other eight members of the Ogoni Nine, three decades after their execution by the Sani Abacha regime sparked global outrage and led to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations in 1995.
During his address, Tinubu conferred the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) honour on Saro-Wiwa, while his fellow Ogoni activists — Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine — were each awarded the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).
The President affirmed: “I also confer posthumous national honours on Ken Saro-Wiwa and his fellow travellers and shall exercise my prerogative of mercy to grant these national heroes a full pardon.”
The recognition marks the first time a sitting Nigerian President has formally acknowledged the Ogoni Nine’s role in Nigeria’s democracy and environmental justice movement, signaling a long-awaited step toward state-led rehabilitation of their legacy.
The executions of the Ogoni Nine, all prominent members of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), drew fierce international condemnation after a military tribunal condemned them in a widely discredited trial. Their activism against environmental degradation in the Niger Delta remains a landmark chapter in Nigeria’s history of resistance against oppressive regimes.
As Nigeria commemorates Democracy Day 2025, Soyinka’s renewed demand for justice for murdered pro-democracy heroes underscores the unresolved scars of the past — and the urgent need for accountability, truth, and reconciliation in the nation’s democratic journey.
