The death has been announced of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jr. A prominent son of Nigeria, Ken Jr. was the son of late Nigerian playwright and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa who was executed in 1995. Ken Jr. died today{18th October 2016} after a brief illness. He died in a London hospital after suffering stroke and battling a lung-related disease.Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. was one of the world’s most influential human rights activists and authors. He was Special Assistant to then president Goodluck Jonathan on Peace, Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation. He was an unfailing champion for the claims and rights of his people in debates over the effects of globalization on the nation state in Africa, cultural diversity, ethnic identity and the environment.
His first book, a critically acclaimed memoir called In the Shadow of a Saint, is an examination of the dilemmas of fathers and sons, families and community, the paradox of identity, of belonging and the struggle between exile and home. He wrote for various newspapers and magazines around the world, including several in Britain and Africa; he was a weekly columnist for The Globe and Mail. He also produced several television documentaries in Britain and for the CBC. He was a Saul Rae Fellow at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto and was selected in 2005 as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.