You’re probably wondering why we chose to start this season talking about General Sani Abacha, the despot who ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his mysterious death in 1998. The short answer is this: if we really want to understand what Ken Saro-Wiwa, the protagonist of our story this season, was up against, we have to understand Abacha. 

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? During much of Abacha’s regime, this was the dynamic between Abacha and Saro-Wiwa. But at one point Abacha seemed to give way, to extend an olive branch. In 1994, around two months into his rule, he invited Saro-Wiwa to become Nigeria’s oil minister. What drove Abacha to make this offer? And can you guess Saro-Wiwa’s response?

In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at republic.com.ng/podcasts/.

The Republic is currently on an editorial break and show notes will be available on our website by 31 January 2025.

African history is not yet mainstream and we're on a mission to change this. The Republic is a miniseries covering key events and figures in African history. Our second season focuses on the life and legacy of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and one of nine non-violent Ogoni activists the General Sani Abacha military government brutally executed in 1995.

The Ogoni are an ethnic group situated in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. For years, they have suffered pollution and environmental degradation stemming from crude oil extraction on their land. Saro-Wiwa’s protests against oil companies such as Shell, including his leadership of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), frustrated the Abacha government, which relied heavily on oil exports.

On 10 November 1995, after controversial court trials, the Abacha regime sentenced Saro-Wiwa along with eight other Ogoni activists to death by hanging. The eight were: Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine. Their brutal arrest and murder marked a pivotal moment not only in Nigeria’s history but also in the history of global environmentalism.

Nearly 30 years since the Ogoni 9 execution, host Wale Lawal traces the life and legacy of Saro-Wiwa, and the implications of the Ogoni 9 execution. You’ll travel to the Niger Delta and hear about life in Nigeria under Abacha’s regime, the political rise of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the troubled history of oil in the Niger Delta, the arrest and trial of the Ogoni 9, and how Abacha’s execution of the Ogoni 9 continues to shape the politics of Nigeria’s oil wealth and what it means to be Nigerian today.

Learn more about The Republic at ⁠republic.com.ng/podcasts

IBB had just stepped down from the presidential seat and handed the responsibility over to the technocrat, Ernest Shonekan. Despite being unpopular (at least compared to MKO Abiola), Shonekan promised to serve Nigeria with all his heart and to be faithful, loyal and honest. Unfortunately for him, he was handed a country in turmoil.

The Shonekan administration might have been ineffectual, but it gave way to the Sani Abacha regime, one of Nigeria’s most oppressive military administrations. Buckle up as we enter the final stretch of MKO Abiola’s presidential campaign.

What do we call this chapter in the story of Nigeria’s quest for democracy? In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠republic.com.ng/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠.

It was June 15 1993, three days after the June 12 election and the National Electoral Commission had released results from 14 states, including the Federal Capital Territory. From the results, MKO Abiola was in the clear lead. It seemed like MKO had won the election. All around Nigeria, people were hopeful and eager for a democratic future with a leader they had chosen. 

But on June 16, the Abuja High Court called for the suspension of the remaining results. Shock rippled through Nigeria. To many Nigerians, the election had been fair and unproblematic, so the suspension immediately raised some red flags. Protests took over the streets. Lawyers got busy preparing to contest the suspension. Then on the 23rd of June, just eleven days after the election that had inspired so much hope, Nigerians had their fears materialize when IBB announced he was annulling the election. How did Nigerians react to this?

In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at ⁠⁠republic.com.ng/podcasts/⁠⁠.

After eight years of anticipation, and eight years of promises from General Ibrahim Babangida’s junta, Nigerians were finally about to have their say at the ballot box. In this week’s episode, we head to the polls!

What tilted the scales in favour of SDP’s MKO Abiola over NRC’s Bashir Tofa? How did local and international observers feel the June 12 election went? Was June 12 truly free and fair? Most importantly, how did this highly anticipated event turn into such a controversy? 

In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at ⁠⁠republic.com.ng/podcasts/⁠⁠.

Ahead of the June 12 1993 election, the Babangida regime created a two-party system, in which only the National Republican Convention party (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) were allowed to run for office. NRC was meant to represent right-wing views while SDP was meant to represent left-wing views.

However, critics have argued that both parties were actually similar, lacked ideological difference and consistency, and were a ploy the Babangida regime engineered to maintain control over Nigeria’s democratic transition. Notably, the lawyer and politician, Bola Ige, once remarked that NRC and SDP were ‘two sides of the same coin’. How true was this?

In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at ⁠⁠republic.com.ng/podcasts/⁠⁠.

During the June 12 1993 election, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale ‘MKO’ Abiola was the widely preferred presidential candidate. Until then, he had been perhaps the most popular of IBB’s private-sector associates. 

MKO’s legacy in Nigeria is a complex one: it is a tapestry of luck, hope, discipline, betrayal and destiny but underneath that tapestry lies a number of questions. Starting with how did a poor, ‘nameless’ son of a cocoa trader born in the old Yoruba city of Abeokuta go on to become the almost-president of Nigeria?

In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at ⁠republic.com.ng/podcasts/⁠.

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida or ‘IBB’ became the military president of Nigeria in 1985, after overthrowing General Muhammadu Buhari (yes, we know what you’re thinking and you’re right) in a military coup. On becoming president, IBB sold himself as the military leader who would usher in Nigeria’s democracy; but what continues to puzzle historians is why he repeatedly delayed the democratic transition until 1993.

In this episode, Wale Lawal finds some answers. Learn more at republic.com.ng/podcasts/.

African history is not yet mainstream and we're on a mission to change this. The Republic is a miniseries covering key events and figures in African history. Our first season focuses on 'June 12', the most controversial election in Nigeria's history.

In June 1993, after a keenly contested election, presidential candidate, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale ‘M. K. O.’ Abiola, secured popular votes enough to become Nigeria's next president. In the weeks that followed, the military government under General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) announced that the election had been annulled.

This decision, which spurred a series of events that culminated in the arrest and eventual death of M. K. O. Abiola, forever shaped the future of Nigeria’s democracy. Thirty years on, June 12 no longer feels inanimate. Why was it such a pivotal moment, what did it feel like to experience it and why has it remained engrained in Nigeria’s political consciousness?

In the first season of The Republic, host Wale Lawal traces the significance of the June 12 1993 election, 30 years on. You’ll hear about life in Nigeria under IBB's regime, the political rise of M. K. O. Abiola, the eventual election and sudden annulment, and the prolonged implications of June 12 for Nigeria’s democracy.

Learn more about The Republic at republic.com.ng/podcasts