Nigerian martyr's son deals with legacy in book

Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, above, is remembered in his son Ken Wiwa's new book, "In the Shadow of a Saint"

In this story: 'Flitting through two identities' 'Looking forward' RELATED STORIES, SITES

TORONTO, Ontario (Reuters) -- Ken Wiwa remembers the turning point in his life: the day his father, Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was hanged.

That was the day he realized he would not live out his father's dreams but embark on his own life outside Nigeria.

Immediately after learning of the death of his father, who had devoted his life to seeking justice for his Ogoni people, Wiwa flew to London, where he held a news conference, then retreated to a friend's home where he, his mother and sisters watched clips from the event replayed on television.

"I was sitting there in the room with my sisters and mother, watching me look very self-assured on the TV, and I thought, 'I don't know who the hell that guy is,' " recalled Wiwa.

"I could see my sisters and mother taking great comfort in the fact that I looked like their father and their husband. He was dead but at least their son and brother was willing fill his place. But the real me was tremendously scared, angry and confused. There was a difference between the perception of me and the reality and the people around me didn't see that."

On November 10, 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa was charged with murder and sentenced to death along with eight others, leading to international sanctions against Nigeria's then military junta.

Saro-Wiwa had led a strident campaign against the Nigerian government and Royal Dutch/Shell, seeking a better life for Ogonis and charging that oil exploitation had devastated their environment and left them in poverty.

A former journalist with The Guardian newspaper in Britain, Ken Wiwa, 32, has spent the time since his father's death working out the issues he had with his world-famous parent. His new book, "In the Shadow of a Saint" details that struggle to come to terms with his legacy.

He battled with his father over his future career. The elder Wiwa wanted his son to follow in his footsteps while the younger had other ambitions. The inner struggle formed two distinct identities in the junior Wiwa that he deals with in his book.

"There is Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. and that is the identity which my father always wanted me to be, which is the English-educated African who would carry on the struggle that he gave his life up for," Wiwa said.

"Then there was the other side of me, which rejected the mold in which my father was trying to form me. That's Ken Wiwa, the Englishman who was born in Africa. When I was in England I was Ken Wiwa. When I was in Africa I was Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. and I was constantly flitting through two identities depending on my circumstances and I guess I still do that to a certain extent."

Wiwa, who lived in England for 20 years before moving to Canada last year, added: "Hopefully Ken Wiwa and Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. have become one and the same thing, but I think it is still something I have to resolve within me."

At 23, in an effort to separate himself from his father, he changed his name to Ken Wiwa, dropping the Saro, while the senior Wiwa was in detention, much to his father's dismay. But Wiwa returned to his other identity, the son of Ken Saro-Wiwa, while trying to save his father from being executed.

"When I went out to save my father's life, I did become Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr., I did become the son he always wanted, the dutiful son. There I was, speaking his words most of the time, and being his replacement because he was in prison. I was his mouthpiece," Wiwa recalled.

"In most people's minds he just seemed to flow seamlessly into me. I was him and he was me. So it was naturally expected that I would step up and replace him and become Ken Saro-Wiwa when Ken Saro-Wiwa was dead. But that, of course, was the last thing I wanted."

When the campaign was over, he returned to England and his life as Ken Wiwa, saying he needed time to mourn his father's death. Time away from Nigerian politics allowed him to evaluate his relationship with his father, which he details in his book.

"I've gone past the stage of looking back. I am now more looking forward. I don't regard my father's death as a particularly tragic thing anymore. It was his destiny and he accepted it and came to terms with it, and he just hoped that we would be able take something positive from it," Wiwa said.

"Sometimes it is easier to see things in the dark that you can't see in broad daylight. And that's what death does sometimes: Tragedy, pain sometimes ennobles you, gives you more of an understanding of life and it makes you more human and wiser."

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