Printable Dispatch from AnitaRoddick.com

Ken Saro-Wiwa was one of the most remarkable men I’ve ever met. Many of you will remember his extraordinarily powerful campaign against the devastation, by oil companies (especially Shell and Chevron), of his land of Ogoni in the Niger Delta in the early 1990s. Many of you will also remember his appalling end - executed by the Nigerian state on 10th November 1995, because he’d become just too dangerous to the oil companies and to the military government of Nigeria.

Ken's activism was an inspiration to my husband, Gordon, and I. And that's why we ran the series of campaigns at The Body Shop in the 1990s - we just felt so strongly that his message had to be got out to a wider audience. And that's also why we became so involved in his struggle and the struggle of his Ogoni people, which is still continuing today. It’s shocking to realise the situation in the Niger Delta is as bad, or even worse, than it was ten years ago – this is how a recent report from Christian Aid put it:

"Shell's clean-up of oil spills and repair of pipelines in Nigeria is scandalously inadequate and would never be tolerated in Europe or North America."

Now, ten years after his murder, I'm delighted to be part of a campaign that is being launched today (Tuesday 22nd March 2005), at City Hall, London - Remember Saro-Wiwa. This is the brainchild of the inspiring London based collective PLATFORM, whose work I’ve got to know and admire over the last two years (check out their fascinating website detailing imaginative and in-depth research on corporations and the oil industry. Together with Ken Livingstone, Ken Wiwa (Ken Saro-Wiwa’s son), PLATFORM and many other organisations and writers who are part of the Remember Saro-Wiwa coalition, I'll be launching the campaign to create a permanent Living Memorial to Ken Saro-Wiwa in London.

It promises to be a moving and remarkable occasion, and we expect the initiative to go from strength to strength this year - apart from the Living Memorial there are several other strands in Remember Saro-Wiwa ranging from new books and literature events to theatre and human rights campaigning, so why not get involved in helping to remember one of the most inspirational activists of the last century?

I’ll be posting regular updates as the initiative develops this year, but also visit the Remember Saro-Wiwa website.