What countries do you want to visit?

There are many nations around the world which would be extraordinarily interesting to visit. You could name almost any country in Africa – Nigeria, Botswana, Egypt – and I would eagerly jump at the opportunity to visit.

Let’s approach this question beyond mere individual satisfaction or enjoyment. Where can I, as an Australian by birth, demonstrated my solidarity and interest in a nation’s people and culture?

It has been 30 years since the execution of Nigerian environmental activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa. Nigeria, and the Niger Delta in particular is rich in oil. The delta has been the subject of intensive oil exploration and extraction. This practice has been highly damaging to the natural environment and Ogoni people.

Highlighting the ecologically destructive practices of Shell oil corporation on his native Ogoniland, he formed a nonviolent organisation, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).

MOSOP declared that Shell petroleum corporation destroyed the natural environment, polluted the waterways, derived enormous profits from the sale of crude oil, and provided nothing for the Ogoni people. A new word was basically invented at this time (the late 1980s and early 1990s) for this practice – extractivism.

He and his fellow activists, denouncing the extractivism of multinational oil companies in the early 1990s, were targeted by the Nigerian military regime. The peaceful protests organised by MOSOP were met with violent repression. Shell corporation and the Nigerian authorities were colluding to silence any voices which spoke out against the exploitative practices of oil multinationals.

Brought to court on trumped up charges, the Ogoni 9, of which Saro-Wiwa was part, were sentenced to death and hanged in November 1995. Earlier this month, the Nigerian government issued a posthumous pardon for Saro-Wiwa.

Saro-Wiwa wrote of his experiences while in detention – A Month and a Day. Arrested in June 1993, he was held in deplorable conditions. It was the first of many clashes with the Nigerian authorities.

His book was published in 1996 in Australia, with a preface by Anglo-Scottish novelist William Boyd. That book was eye-opening, particularly given the political climate of the early-mid 1990s. The socialist bloc in Eastern Europe had just dissolved, and the corporate-controlled media was declaring the triumph of capitalism. The future belonged to Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Hollywood movies and fast cars, did it not?

Saro-Wiwa’s sacrifice, along with his Ogoni compatriots, reminded the world that capitalism involves exploitation and ecological degradation. Capitalism’s cheerleaders can jump up and down about supermarkets and hamburgers, but they cannot obscure the fact that Saro-Wiwa exposed the ugly truth of the profiteering extractivism at the heart of multinational corporations.

I would like to visit Saro-Wiwa’s grave, as well as the final resting place of the Ogoni 9 in Nigeria, and pay my respects to them.

So, Nigeria – that’s one.

Let’s stay in Africa, and venture over to Kenya.

Kenya has been a fascinating country for me over the decades. My late father made me aware of Kenya – in what way? As a cradle of humankind. Kenya is home to extensive archaeological and paleontological discoveries, including fossils which tell the story of human evolution.

Louis Leakey (1903 – 1972) the British-Kenyan paleontologist, made fossil hunting seem exciting and daring in his documentaries. I remember watching grainy old footage of Leakey out and about in the field, which was usually Lake Turkana, determinedly digging some patch of ground. Mary Leakey, Louis’ partner, was a scientist in her own right, sharing the glory of paleontological discoveries.

Their son Richard, who sadly passed away in 2022, was also a noted paleontologist.

Lake Turkana, located in northwest Kenya (branching into Ethiopia) is actually a saline desert lake. Surrounded by arid country, it is not the first place you would expect to be habitable for hominins. However, Lake Turkana’s eastern foreshore has yielded literally hundreds of hominin fossils, providing a unique insight into early human evolution.

A treasure trove of fossils, the story of human evolution is arguably the most important paleontological discovery of the last decades of the twentieth century. No, I am not rejecting the importance of quantum mechanics, continental plate tectonics or the germ theory of disease for their impact on our society and how we live. Each in turn faced fierce resistance when initially posited, gradually acquiring consensus based on the preponderance of evidence.

However, it is the natural history of human evolution, possessing a philosophically materialist foundation with no reference to or need for supernatural intervention, which is the most fascinating yet challenging consensus in contemporary capitalist society.

Kenya, while a small nation geographically, has played an outsized role in revealing the human story. The Kenyan Rift Valley, the subject of exploration for the last 50 years, has more secrets to reveal. Kenya has solidified its claim as the original location of humankind.

It would be an easy and entertaining option to be yet another Aussie tourist in Bali. I am certain that Bali is very appealing, but treading the well worn path of what is marketed as Aussie tourism is not for me.