Comfort Obi A Bouquet for E.K. Clark Edwin Clark, a Chief, former Minister for Information in the Third Republic, an Ijaw leader (He likes to be called the Ijaw National Leader, or when convenient, the Niger Delta Leader), turned 80 years last week. And what a celebration it was. It spanned from Abuja to Yenegoa to his village. He is from Delta State. But you would have noticed that there was no ceremony marked for Asaba, the capital of Delta State. Instead, it was the capital of Bayelsa State, Yenagoa, which hosted one of the ceremonies. I now wonder if his state, Delta, was not very keen on picking the bill. Clark disclosed that this was the first time he would celebrate his birthday. He said he had sworn he would never celebrate it until an Ijaw son occupies the State House. It is difficult to know when Clark took this decision. But he is a smart guy. He thought it wise to celebrate his birthday at the appropriate time. He chose to celebrate it when an impression had been created that everything in the Niger Delta revolves around him. In saying that he had sworn never to mark it until an Ijaw man occupies the State House, he was smart to add that even though Vice President Goodluck Jonathan is not the President, at least, he is the Vice President. So, the question: Is this the first time an Ijaw, or a Niger Deltan, will occupy the State House as the number two man? Admiral Augustus Aikhomu (rtd), was Nigeria’s Vice President under Babangida. Admiral Mike Akhigbe (rtd) was also the number two man under the Abdulsami Abubakar regime. I don’t know if Clark has any beef with them. The point is: they are both accomplished Niger Delta sons. But let me profer the main reason why I think Clark ignored celebrating his birthdays then. And why he did it now. He did it when he knew he would make maximum dividends. When he was 60 , 70 , 75 , all landmark years, the criminal neglect of the Niger Delta was not on the front burner as it is now. There were no militants whose father Clark would claim he is. There were no kidnappers, no gangsters, who Clark would claim to be in touch, and discussing with. So, there was nobody whose sole mission is to claim to be the leader of the Ijaw, the Niger Delta and/ or the father of militants. The first people to thank, therefore, for the seeming importance of Clark, to the extent that he would celebrate his birthday at the banquet hall of the State House, Abuja, are the militants. Clark was not ignorant of the fact that Aikhomu and Akhigbe had been Nigeria's Number two citizens. But he may have a point. For Clark, the only tribe in the Niger Delta is the Ijaw. If you are not an Ijaw, you don’t qualify to be a Niger Deltan. That, many people believe, is responsible for his fight against former Governors James Ibori of Delta State, Peter Odili of Rivers State, Celestine Omehia of Rivers State, and the current governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. You would notice that I did not add the current governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi. That is because suddenly, Clark has conveniently claimed him as a son, after calling him a cultist several times before destiny put him on the governor’s seat in the state. This write-up is not a bouquet of flowers for Clark. It is a bouquet of what an 80- year-old, caught in the mess that the Nigerian state has reduced the Niger Delta to, is expected to be doing. The first is: he must never be seen as making maximum profit from the mess. At his age, he must stand firm and condemn evil. He must never double-speak, or play to the gallery. He must never create the impression that anything done by an Ijaw is okay, while anything done by a non-Ijaw is wrong. Recently, while bemoaning the fate of the Niger Delta on a television programme, he was asked if he was not satisfied that Jonathan is the Vice President. He said it was good, but insisted he would have preferred a Niger Deltan as the President. So, he was asked why he was against the aspiration of Odili, who many people strongly believed would have picked the presidential ticket on the first ballot if he had been allowed to run. His answer: 'Yes, but we didn’t want a situation where we would share him with the Igbo.' Yet, considerable parts of Rivers State and other parts of the Niger Delta are not Ijaw. Oil does not flow from Ijawland alone. The highest crude oil producing LGA in Nigeria is not an Ijaw LGA. It is Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA. A leader, as Clark claims to be, must never be a divisive one. If he insists on fighting for the Ijaw alone, then it is time for the other ethnic groups in the region to give him a red card. Having crowned himself the Ijaw and/or Niger Delta leader, now is the time for Clark to work for genuine peace in the region. At 80 , does it not worry Clark that everybody is running away from the Niger Delta? The economy of the region is collapsing under Clark’s ‘leadership.’ The genuine agitation against the criminal neglect of the region has been commercialised and criminalised.

Please can ur chop it up so that it is readable?

chyz:

Please can your chop it up so that it is readable?

It is a good read.

Clark is saying he is a Niger Deltan leader but his only interest is the Ijaws.

At 80 he did not have his party at Asaba, but he had birthday party in Abuja and Bayelsa State even though he is from Delta State.

is reason may be because there are not so many ijaw in delta state, most of them live in bayelsa state. They may even relocate them to bayelsa state, and build a city for them. I can show you it is possible to relocate the ijaw in delta state to bayelsa state. They are not much.

EzeUche22:

It is a good read.

Clark is saying he is a Niger Deltan leader but his only interest is the Ijaws.

At 80 he did not have his party at Asaba, but he had birthday party in Abuja and Bayelsa State even though he is from Delta State.

Yea had to read it anywayz. I really dont like that dude. Must every tribe worry about the Igbo??. This is seriously getting annoying.

Becomrich0:

is reason may be because there are not so many ijaw in delta state, most of them live in bayelsa state. They may even relocate them to bayelsa state, and build a city for them. I can show you it is possible to relocate the ijaw in delta state to bayelsa state. They are not much.

Answer this question for me. How did Ijaws get into Ondo State? How did they jump over the Itsekiri and become indigenous to Ondo State?

Edwin Clark being partisan is not a brilliant politician but it is astonishing how things end up going his way.

There are ijaw who go as far as cameroon to look for fish. That how they came to ondo state.

I have always feel Nigeria is a dysfunctional entity. Edwin Clarke does not draw my anger due to his political shenanigans but those who support his shameful political grandstanding. The worst culprits in support of the nonsensical nomenclature such Niger Delta are moronic individuals who hail from outside the region. Niger Delta is not exclusive entity of Ijo and Edwin Clarke should not arrogate the leadership of the region to himself. I shall not give a rat-asre if he is crowned the paramount leader of Ijo. He should stop parading himself as the leader of Niger Delta.

Dede1:

I have always feel Nigeria is a dysfunctional entity. Edwin Clarke does not draw my anger due to his political shenanigans but those who support his shameful political grandstanding. The worst culprits in support of the nonsensical nomenclature such Niger Delta are moronic individuals hail from outside the region. Niger Delta is not exclusive entity of Ijo and Edwin Clarke should not arrogate the leadership of the region to himself. I shall not give a rat-asre if he is crowned the paramount leader of Ijo. He should stop parading himself as the leader of Niger Delta.

Who cares about what a nonentity like you thinks. Like really!!

Aigbofa:

Who cares about what a nonentity like you thinks. Like really!!

Just shut up you buffoon.

EzeUche22:

Just shut up you buffoon.

This little booty scratcher is still alive?

Aigbofa:


This little booty scratcher is still alive?

You still haven't pulled the trigger yet?

EzeUche22:

You still have pulled the trigger yet?

No. I'm still aiming for your head. As soon as you are steady, kabooooom!

Wow all because of poor mr clark

Mr Bean i know, Mr Bones i know, but what who is an E.K. Clark?

Aigbofa:

Who cares about what a nonentity like you thinks. Like really!!

You write like a person who is inflicted with incurable decease.

clark is an aboki agent, he is trying to garner hatred for gej

Dede1:

I have always feel Nigeria is a dysfunctional entity. Edwin Clarke does not draw my anger due to his political shenanigans but those who support his shameful political grandstanding. The worst culprits in support of the nonsensical nomenclature such Niger Delta are moronic individuals who hail from outside the region. Niger Delta is not exclusive entity of Ijo and Edwin Clarke should not arrogate the leadership of the region to himself. I shall not give a rat-asre if he is crowned the paramount leader of Ijo. He should stop parading himself as the leader of Niger Delta.   

Ijaws only make up a fraction of the fictitious SS, talk less of the entire Niger Delta. At a time when politicians should be striving to be national leaders, the likes of Clark are busy playing local politics.

Somehow i see clark as some unwanted baggage that GEJ , needs to manage in critical times like this.

I somehow dont seem to understand the writer. Do we have anyone in the SS , do not belong to any particular tribe? If Clark said he promised not to celebrate until an IJAW son became president or VP, i do not know how an AKHIGBE as no2 or Aikhomu as no2 in a military regime equates to the the man's desire.

E.K clark is not a national leader, he is the IJAW rendition of the CIROMAs ,wada nas and balarabe musas of the north hausa/fulani.

Trust me every and I mean every tribe has his type and they hardly change with age. My only problem with GEJ however is allowing someone like CLARK to be a frontline man in his campaign.

gogo123:

clark is an aboki agent, he is trying to garner hatred for gej

Never looked at it from that perspective. Gawd, you maybe right

gogo123:

clark is an aboki agent, he is trying to garner hatred for gej

hahahahahaha . . . . What a witty thought!!!! . .

Another question is, why has Clark conviniently moved from Delta(his home state) to east of the Niger?
Could the vulnerability of post-civil war Igbos have anything to do with this opportunistic migration?

naijaking1:

Another question is, why has Clark conviniently moved from Delta(his home state) to east of the Niger?
Could the vulnerability of post-civil war Igbos have anything to do with this opportunistic migration?

We should remind him that the East is an Igbo bastion. His ilk do not belong in such an area.

EzeUche22:

We should remind him that the East is an Igbo bastion. His ilk do not belong in such an area.

Another reason why I wonder how Jonathan could be so oblivious of this man's historical bagagges as a divider and not a unifier

This is the main reason I laugh whenever I hear South-South or Niger Delta. Niger Delta is Ijaw and Ijaw alone, other ethnicities should find where they belong or reclassify themselves.


Comfort Obi     
A Bouquet for E.K. Clark

Edwin Clark, a Chief, former Minister for Information in the Third Republic, an Ijaw leader (He likes to be called the Ijaw National Leader, or when convenient, the Niger Delta Leader), turned 80 years last week. And what a celebration it was. It spanned from Abuja to Yenegoa to his village. He is from Delta State. But you would have noticed that there was no ceremony marked for Asaba, the capital of Delta State. Instead, it was the capital of Bayelsa State, Yenagoa, which hosted one of the ceremonies. I now wonder if his state, Delta, was not very keen on picking the bill.  Clark disclosed that this was the first time he would celebrate his birthday. He said he had sworn he would never celebrate it until an Ijaw son occupies the State House. It is difficult to know when Clark took this decision. But he is a smart guy. He thought it wise to celebrate his birthday at the appropriate time. He chose to celebrate it when an impression had been created that everything in the Niger Delta revolves around him. 

In saying that he had sworn never to mark it until an Ijaw man occupies the State House, he was smart to add that even though Vice President  Goodluck Jonathan is not the President, at least, he is the Vice President. So, the question: Is this the first time an Ijaw, or a Niger Deltan, will  occupy the State House as the number two man? Admiral Augustus  Aikhomu (rtd), was Nigeria’s Vice President under Babangida. Admiral Mike Akhigbe (rtd) was also the number two man under the Abdulsami  Abubakar regime. I don’t know if Clark has any beef with them. The point is: they are both accomplished Niger Delta sons. But let me profer the main reason why I think Clark ignored celebrating his birthdays then. And why he did it now. He did it when he knew he would make maximum dividends. When he was 60, 70, 75, all landmark years, the criminal neglect of the Niger Delta was not on the front burner as it is now. There were no militants whose father Clark would claim he is. There were no kidnappers, no gangsters, who Clark would claim to be in touch, and discussing with. So, there was nobody whose sole mission is to claim to be the leader of the Ijaw, the Niger Delta and/ or the father of militants.

The first people to thank, therefore, for the seeming importance of Clark, to the extent that he would celebrate his birthday at the banquet hall of the State House, Abuja, are the militants. Clark was not ignorant of the fact that Aikhomu and Akhigbe had been Nigeria’s Number two citizens. But he may have a point.  For Clark, the only tribe in the Niger Delta is the Ijaw. If you are not an  Ijaw, you don’t qualify to be a Niger Deltan. That, many people believe, is responsible for his fight against former Governors James Ibori of Delta State, Peter Odili of Rivers State, Celestine Omehia of Rivers State, and the current governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. You would notice that I did not add the current governor of Rivers State, Rotimi  Amaechi. That is because suddenly, Clark has conveniently claimed him as a son, after calling him a cultist several times before destiny put him on the governor’s seat in the state.  This write-up is not a bouquet of flowers for Clark. It is a bouquet of what an 80- year-old, caught in the mess that the Nigerian state has reduced the Niger Delta to, is expected to be doing. The first is: he must never be seen as making maximum profit from the mess.  At his age, he must stand firm and condemn evil. He must never double-speak, or play to the gallery. He must never create the impression that anything done by an Ijaw is okay, while anything done  by a non-Ijaw is wrong.

Recently, while bemoaning the fate of the Niger Delta on a television programme, he was asked if he was not satisfied that Jonathan is the Vice President. He said it was good, but insisted he would have preferred a Niger Deltan as the President. So, he was asked why he was against the aspiration of Odili, who many people strongly believed would have picked the presidential ticket on the first ballot if he had been allowed to run. His answer: 'Yes, but we didn’t want a situation where we would share him with the Igbo.' Yet, considerable parts of Rivers State and other parts of the Niger Delta are not Ijaw. Oil does not flow from Ijawland alone. The highest crude oil producing LGA in Nigeria is not an  Ijaw LGA. It is Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA.

A leader, as Clark claims to be, must never be a divisive one. If he insists on fighting for the Ijaw alone, then it is time for the other ethnic groups in the region to give him a red card. Having crowned himself the Ijaw and/or Niger Delta leader now is the time for Clark to work for genuine peace in the region. At 80, does it not worry Clark that everybody is running away from the Niger Delta? The economy of the region is collapsing under Clark’s ‘leadership.’ The genuine agitation against the criminal neglect of the region has been commercialised and criminalised.