Noo Saro-Wiwa, writer and daughter of the late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, has paid tributes to her father to celebrate his posthumous birthday.
Noo, on Thursday, shared a photo on Instagram of her parents in The Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou, China. The photo was taken in 1981, according to her.
“My father would’ve turned 83 today. Last year I found this photo of him and my mother in The Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou, China, c. 1981,” she wrote.
“They both look so young to me now. Parents seem like these all-powerful beings when you’re a kid, but really they’re just young people muddling through, doing their best under the circumstances.”
Noo added that she visited that same garden 36 years later “in far less elegant fashion, took a selfie and got photobombed.”
“Had no idea I was following in my parents footsteps… information is so easily lost down the generations. So keep taking those holiday snaps, people! Especially if you’ve got kids — today’s vanity is tomorrow’s cherished memory,” she admonished.
November 10, 2024, will mark Saro-Wiwa’s 29th death anniversary.
The activist was tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly masterminding the murder of Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government meeting.
He was killed by hanging by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. His execution provoked international outrage and resulted in Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth for over three years.
