Saro-wiwa was not just the mouthpiece of his people, he was a firm believer in everything he set his heart to do and did so with excellence and justice.
On this day as we remember him, here are some of his most memorable quotes:
”I’ve used my talents as a writer to enable the Ogoni People to confront their tormentors. I was not able to do it as a politician or a businessman. My writing did it… I think I have the moral victory”
”The writer cannot be a mere storyteller; he cannot be a mere teacher; he cannot merely x-ray society’s weaknesses, its ills, its perils. He or she must be actively involved shaping its present and its future.”
”I tell you this, I may be dead but my ideas will not die.”
”Whether I live or die is immaterial. It is enough to know that there are people who commit time, money and energy to fight this one evil among so many others predominating worldwide. If they do not succeed today, they will succeed tomorrow.”
”The stories that I tell must have a different sort of purpose from the artist in the Western world…and art, in that instance, becomes so meaningful both to the artist and to the consumers of that art, because you do not just depend on them to read your books, you even have to live a life that they can emulate.”