Nigeria refuses to honor activist Ken Saro-Wiwa on 15th anniversary of death

Nigeria has rejected a move to honor the writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, 15 years after he was hanged by the country's then military regime. Proposals for an annual Ken Saro-Wiwa Day, and to name a street and national monument after him, were rejected by the Nigerian senate. It also declined to hold a minute's silence on the anniversary of his death, the country's Next newspaper reported. Activists and residents attended a church service in memory of the late campaigner, who drew worldwide attention to oil giant Shell's environmental impact on the Niger delta. The Nigerian senate debated a motion entitled Immortalization of Kenule Saro-Wiwa, which could have distanced it from the Sani Abacha government's decision to execute Saro-Wiwa and eight others after what was widely regarded as a show trial. Shell faced accusations it had colluded with the government in the activists' deaths, which the company strongly denied. Senator Lee Maeba proposed that Nov. 11 be declared Ken Saro-Wiwa Day and that a prominent national monument and major road in the capital, Abuja, be named after him, Next reported.