geography, History and ethnology. Pa Clark was there when the geographical anomaly tagged South South was created and all of us dragged into it.
Because not everybody is aware that Pa Clark is selfish, and a very good candidate on issues of double-standards, it will be good we quickly unveil the personalities of Pa Clark to those set of people who mistook him for ‘elderly statesman’ or a well-informed patriot. Pa Clark told his interviews that there were no Igbos in Rivers state. One would have taken him serous and maybe, challenged him to a debate he will lose at the begging, but Clark had already shot himself on the foot on the topic on several occasions.
Dr Ibe Kachikwu, GMD, NNPC an Igbo from Delta state
During the 2007 PDP presidential primaries, Pa Clark was very vocal in declaring Chief Peter Odili, former governor of Rivers state an Igbo and claimed that Igbos should not represent the Niger Delta. Odili is an Ndoni man, Ndoni is clearly an Igboid subgroup in Rivers state. In the days of Okocha versus Uduaghan in Delta Stae, Pa Clark was also very vocal in asserting that Okocha was an Igbo man and he Clark and the ‘real Deltans’ cannot afford to have Delta state capital in Asaba, Igboland and as well have Okocha, an Igbo man as governor while the ‘real Deltans ‘ watched. In Rivers state, men like Chibuike Amaechi had continiously reminded the Clarks’s that they are Igbo, but Pa Clark believed he is the right person to define them.
“Clark is a typical example of people that leaders in power should not have around them.” And that ““I am not necessarily saying that the Ijaw leader should have remained loyal to and defend Goodluck Jonathan because they are both Ijaws; patriotism definitely could be stronger than ethnic affinities. Nonetheless, that E. K. Clark tale about leaving politics and becoming a statesman is nothing but sheer crap. If Jonathan had returned to office, he would still be a card-carrying member of the PDP and the ‘father of the president’ and we would still have been hearing that famous phrase, ‘my son’. Chief E. K. Clark, five months after, has practically told the world that President Buhari is better than ‘his own son’. It is the worst form of humiliation that President Jonathan has received since he left office.” This is Pa Edwin Clark. If there is a dictionary of dishonesty in Nigeria, it must surely be littered with Pa Clark’s name!
Chief Ralph Uwechue, (late) Ex Ohaneze President from Delta State
One silly part of Edwin’s claim was that the Igbos of Rivers state and those of Delta state are no longer Igbos but Rivers people and Deltans. On the same ground, Pa Edwin Clark insists that the Ijaw in Rivers, Delta Edo and Ondo are as Ijaw as the ones in Bayelsa. In other words, the Ijaw in Rivers is not Rivers man/woman like their Igbo counterpart, but Ijaw. The Ijaw in Delta state are not called Deltans, but Ijaw unlike us the Igbos in Delta who must become Deltans and not Igbo. In this line of thinking, Pa Edwin Clark is not alone, with him are many gullible humans in our region. One would have asked Pa Clark exactly why the Ijaw outside Bayelsa are Ijaw while the Igbo outside South East are no longer Igbo, but then Pa Clark was not honestly gullible. His double-standard is well intended and we have seen enough of it already. The right question is why did Pa Clark tag Ibe Kachikwu, Peter Odili and Okocha Igbos when it helped him deny them of their political ambitions and untagged them when it favors him? The answer remains the same: Pa Clark is a liar. One more thing: while did Asaba become Igboland when it suits Clark and becomes just ‘Delta’ when it suits him also?
I will advise the handlers of Pa Edwin Clark to guide him accordingly especially now that people’s utterances are recorded in the internet. It is not the duty of Pa Clark to tell us when to be Igbo and when not to be. He should focus more on helping his Ijaw people get at least clean environments devoid of oil spillages from the federal government. He should not be allowed to publicly display his ugly linen in public. Even a kid would laugh at Clark claiming that A Chinwendu in Asaba is more related to a Pa Edwin Clark or a Diepriye of Bayelsa than another Chinwendu from Onitsha. Maybe Pa Clark is not intelligent enough to know who is his ethnic brothers and sisters and depends on the Nigerian political boundary makers to tell him who his ethnic brothers are. Evidently, if a new boundary adjustment is made including Ondo state in South South, Yoruba people will probably become ethnic brothers and sisters to the old man and his like. We know our ethnic brothers and sisters when we see them.
And to those forming a RONDEL, this goes out to you: if you depend on the Nigerian political mapping to know who your ethnic brothers and sister are, you are simply gullible and mostly ignorant. To Pa Clark, your current age deserves rest. Go and have a lot of rest. If there is anything a youth can learn from Clark, it is to avoid everything that Pa Clark did.
By Chiwnedu Carlos…
an Igbo from Delta.
All Comments