''The Politics of Bones: Dr. Owens Wiwa and the Struggle for Nigeria's Oil'' is a book by Canadian journalist
J. Timothy Hunt
James Timothy Hunt (born April 1, 1959) is an American-Canadian author and journalist. He has also written children's books under the pen name Tim Beiser.
Biography
Hunt was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and attended universit ...
. It was published by
McClelland & Stewart in September 2005 just before the tenth anniversary of the controversial execution of
Ken Saro-Wiwa.
On November 10, 1995,
Nigeria’s military dictatorship executed nine environmental activists. Among them was Ken Saro-Wiwa, the charismatic spokesman of the
Ogoni
The Ogonis are a people in the Rivers South East senatorial district of Rivers State, in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria. They number just over 2 million and live in a homeland which they also refer to as Ogoniland. They share common ...
people, whose land in the fertile
Niger River delta
The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical ...
has been grotesquely polluted by the
Royal Dutch Shell Corporation. During Ken’s incarceration, his brother, Dr.
Owens Wiwa, fought valiantly to save his life. When his quest failed, Owens narrowly escaped Nigeria with his life, first to
London, and then to
Toronto.
''The Politics of Bones'' documents Owens's personal battle against the Nigerian government to locate his brother's remains after they were buried in an unmarked mass-grave. Over the torturous course of ten years, Owens finally succeeded in locating and properly burying his brother in the summer of 2005.
See also
*
J. Timothy Hunt
James Timothy Hunt (born April 1, 1959) is an American-Canadian author and journalist. He has also written children's books under the pen name Tim Beiser.
Biography
Hunt was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and attended universit ...
*
History of Nigeria
External links
''The Politics of Bones'', by J. Timothy HuntLetter of protest published in the New York Review of Books shortly before Ken Saro-Wiwa's executionThe Ken Saro-Wiwa FoundationThe Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) 1995 Ogoni report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Politics of Bones
2005 non-fiction books
Books about environmentalism
McClelland & Stewart books