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  • PANDEF salutes Edwin Clark at 97

    PANDEF salutes Edwin Clark at 97

    The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has felicitated its convener and notable nationalist, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, as he marks his 97th birthday on Saturday, May 25.

    The body, in a statement by its national chairman, Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien, recalled Clark’s commitment to justice, peace, and development of the Niger Delta region, and Nigeria in general.

    It prayed for sustenance to celebrate more years, including his 100th birth anniversary.

    “As the noted nationalist and legendary nonagenarian, Chief Sen. Dr. Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, OFR, CON, clocks 97 on Saturday, 25th May 2024, the National Chairman of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, the National and State Executive Committees, the entire membership of the Forum, and the peoples of the Niger Delta, heartily felicitates with the esteemed elder statesman on the momentous occasion.

    “Chief Dr. Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, the National Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, is a man of inestimable value. For more than seven decades, he has remained a steadfast and tireless advocate for fairness, justice, and peace; a champion of truth, and a harbinger of goodwill.

    Read Also: Edwin Clark celebrates ranking of Kiagbodo-based varsity among top 40

    “We are grateful for the pivotal roles he has continued to play in the pursuit of enduring peace and development in the Niger Delta Region, and the Nation as a whole.

    “We salute his bravery, resilience, sagacity, fervor, and fortitude. We hold you in high esteem, Sir!

    “We wish him a happy 97th birthday and offer prayers of gratitude with supplications to the Almighty God for His kindness towards the great elder statesman.

    “May the Almighty continue to bestow upon him the blessings of good health, peace, and overall well-being as we gleefully anticipate celebrating his centennial and beyond.”

  • Edwin Clark celebrates ranking of Kiagbodo-based varsity among top 40

    Edwin Clark celebrates ranking of Kiagbodo-based varsity among top 40

    The Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark at the weekend celebrated the ranking of his university, Edwin Clark University in Kiagbodo, Delta state.

    The university was ranked 25th of about 200 universities in Nigeria. 

    The 97 years old former national commissioner expressed surprise at the development of the institution within a short period of eight years. 

    He commended the management for the turn around of thw institution which was ranked 32nd among Nigerian Universities and 22nd among private universities in 2022. 

    He said the institution remains a legacy he is leaving behind. 

    He said: “And I said, I have been a teacher all my life. I have been a lawyer, I have been in government. I was responsible for the opening of University of Benin. I was then commissioner of education under Brigadier General Ogbomudia, we opened that school. Today, the faculty of management sciences in the university is named after me.

    “I have an honorary degree of LLD from university of Benin since 1990. I was also pro chancellor of the federal university of technology Minna. 

    “So with all these past experiences and knowledge, the best thing is to join in opening a private university where we bring children from all over the country to my village to live together.”

    He recalled that the university started in 2015 the university got its licence. 

    Read Also; How governors usurp Ifa’s role in choice of traditional rulers

    “That is the legacy. Whether I’m gone, my children gone, grandchildren gone, the university remains.

    According to him, he started in 2015, I offered 100 scholarships to the first come. And so that  year, we admitted 200 hundred students.

    “Then I wanted the faculty of law, the NUC said no. All private universities can only operate a faculty of law after five years.

    “They gave me a special exception. We established the faculty of law, second year in the university. We have now graduated two sets of law students from the law school.”

    He said the university is free from cultism and has the lowest fess and also free from cultism and all vices.

    “We started with two faculties, today, we have two faculties, 18 departments.

    We have a good university in Kiagbodo. “We are very grateful to NUC that out of 40 universities, enlisted by them, we are one of them. Recently, about 14 of the departments were accredited by NUC. We have every reason to be happy

    “But today, the NUC has now issued another list, where they listed 40 universities. Of all of them Covenant university took first and had good ranking among the universities of the world. Edwin Clark University was number 25 of about 200 universities in Nigeria. We are just about eight years old.

  • My house was ransacked by troops over Delta killings, says Clark

    My house was ransacked by troops over Delta killings, says Clark

    • 17 slain military personnel to be buried today
    • Rep calls for caution, professionalism

    Elder statesman and National Leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, has condemned a military raid on his country home in Kiagbodo Local Government Area of Delta State over the recent killing of soldiers in the state.

    In a statement yesterday, he recounted how he was inundated with calls on the raid of his country home by military men in search of a suspect linked to the killing of 17 soldiers in Okuama.

    The Ijaw leader said someone, who was later identified as the Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Army’s Division in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, apologised on behalf of the army for the raid.

    According to him, the military men reportedly arrived in five trucks loaded with about 30 to 40 armed soldiers, while flying drones were deployed within the premises.

    Clark said: “Some of them went to the buildings behind the main house and broke all the doors that were locked. They matched out my staff living in those buildings, including lecturers at the university, and made them to `sit on bare ground.

    Read Also; Tinubu appoints Garba Laka Counter-terrorism center coordinator

    “They also broke into my late brother, Ambassador Akporode Blessing Clark’s house. He served this country internationally in various capacities, including as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as both of us share the same premises. They brought out his son almost naked, as the young man was taking a bath when they stormed the house.

    “All their phones were seized. The people had to identify themselves, and they told them (soldiers) whose house it was before they asked for my telephone number, which they said they would pass to their ‘oga’ before they all departed.

    “One would have expected that at this juncture, a call could have been put to the Governor of Delta State to inform him of what happened.”

    The elder statesman said the incident was “beyond coincidence” but a source of concern.

    He recounted a similar raid on his Abuja home on September 4, 2018, describing the authorisation of such raids as “disrespectful and unlawful”, having served the country nearly 70 years in different capacities.

    “I want to end this write-up by addressing all concerned with what I told President Muhammadu Buhari when my security details were withdrawn. If I die today as a result of a natural occurrence, it will be a joyful celebration. But if my death is linked to any dubious means by some overzealous state actors, no one can tell how far the fire will rage. This is not a threat. It is an acknowledgement of God’s mercies on me,” Clark added.

    Also, the 17 army personnel killed in Delta State are to be buried today at the National Cemetery in Abuja.

    Army’s spokesperson Maj.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, who announced it yesterday, said President Bola Tinubu would attend the burial, slated for 3 p.m.

    The names of the four officers are: Lt.-Col. A. H. Ali, Major Safa, Major D. E. Obi, and Captain U. Zakari.

    The 13 soldiers are: Staff Sergeant Yahaya Saidu, Corporal Yahaya Danbaba, Corporal Kabir Bashir, Lance Corporals Bulus Haruna, Sole Opeyemi, Bello Anas, Haman Peter, and Ibrahim Abdullahi.

    The rest are: Privates Alhaji Isah, Clement Francis, Abubakar Ali, Ibrahim Adamu, and Adamu Ibrahim.

    Also, the member representing Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency of Bayelsa State in the House of Representatives, Rodney Ebikebina Ambaiowei, has called for caution and professionalism in the handling of the killing of 17 soldiers in Okuama community of Delta State.

    Addressing reporters yesterday at the National Assembly in Abuja, he said: “I am aware that the Nigerian Army has the capacity to gather intelligence within a short period. The execution of such intelligence reports should be done with utmost caution to minimise collateral damage to innocent and law abiding citizens.

    “I say this, bearing in mind the invasion and carnage that took place in Odi in November 1999 following the killing of some soldiers and policemen which remains fresh in our memories. Caution and professionalism must be the watch word to forestall unpleasant and regrettable consequences in the approach to bringing the culprits to book.”

  • Old man and the sin

    Old man and the sin

    Old men come in different stripes. We had the pious one who sought to depart in peace in elder Simeon as he beheld the Lord, his salvation. We have Hemmingway’s old fisherman of the sea who toiled heroically but brought home only a skeleton. Paul enjoined fathers not to provoke the children to wrath. A bumbling old man in Ferninand Oyono’s novel received a medal only as a mockery. Jacob blessed his children before he left. The father Karamazov in Dostoyevsky’s novel is a planter who bequeaths storm for a generation of his family. Prophet Samuel left a blessing. In politics, Awo called someone a son of perdition. Zik poured woe on another. In Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, an old count sheds tears of apology to his daughter on his deathbed and another enriches an almost total stranger.

    Read Also: Edwin Clark to Tinubu: intervene in Rivers political crisis

    I wonder what E.K. Clark is becoming in his hoary years?  He calls for Presidential intervention and, when he gets it, he cries constitutional foul. Who flouted the law if not the one who brings down a house of democracy, passes a budget with four men, withholds pay from public officers, invokes tribe in a multiethnic state? Clark wants trouble, not tranquility. His man Fubara says he wants peace, will abide by the peace pact, and they will work together. No peace is perfect. He wants war. The pact seems one-sided because Fubara acts were lopsided. Clark should learn from the words of the Latin American writer, Victor Borges that “a smile is the shortest distance between two people.” He should not fill faces with his own frown as a new crackles into being.

  • Edwin Clark to Tinubu: intervene in Rivers political crisis

    Edwin Clark to Tinubu: intervene in Rivers political crisis

    Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark has again called on President Bola Tinubu to step into the political crisis in Rivers state.

    Clark, The Nation had reported also called on the President to address the Ondo State political crisis by encouraging the doctrine of necessity.

    The former national Commissioner, in an open letter to the president titled, ” Another clarion call on Mr. President to intervene in the situation in Rivers State” urged the president to step into the political crisis to save the state albeit the region from crisis.

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    He stated: “I would like to write again as promised to call your urgent attention in dousing the state of deep political divide in Rivers State. As you would recall, I had earlier addressed a press conference four weeks ago when the political crisis started in Rivers State, appealing to you to personally handle this matter.

    “I thank you for the action which you took at the time, including urging the Governor, HE Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor in office, Mr. Nyesom Wike who is today a Minister in your government to sheath their swords.

    “However, let no one be deceived, the situation is not yet over and things seem to be degenerating by the day.

    “Both the Minister and the Governor are my sons and that informs my particular interest to ensure that peace returns as soon as possible to Rivers State.

    “Besides, Rivers State is very important to the stability of the Niger Delta and the overall national economy. Therefore any breakdown of law and order there will not be in the overall interest of all.”

  • Nigeria won’t get it right without restructuring, says Edwin Clark

    Nigeria won’t get it right without restructuring, says Edwin Clark

    Ijaw leader Chief Edwin Clark has argued the country cannot get it right without restructuring. 

    Clark spoke in Lagos during the presentation of his autobiography, “Brutally frank” on Tuesday. 

    He said that the present Constitution is a fraud and unless its replaced  with the resolutions from 2014 constitutional conference, Nigeria may not get it right

    According to him: ” We have no constitution, because the one we  have now  was forced on us by the military” 

    He challenged the Federal Government to dust the  booklet and resolve all the log jams in the country which has been addressed in the conference 

    Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka described Clark as a legendary activist who says things raw no matter whose ox is gored 

    Soyinka, who was represented by Chief Denzil Kentebe, noted that the book will always be a compendium for younger generation, adding that “he cannot wait to read how he tackles some of the history of a society along whose fault lines we have occasionally interacted directly  and indirectly “

     In  is good will message Prof.Anya O Anya noted that Clark is a legend that devoted all his life for the total emancipation of  his people therefore his autobiography will illuminate likes mind who see him as a role model

    Read Also: Okowa congratulates Edwin Clark at 96

    He pointed out that the aged Clark is a phenomenon that God bestowed to Nigeria as a bridge builder and a versatile human compendium.

    In  his encomium Prof.Bolaji Akinyemi noted that the success attributed to the  2014 Nation conference was as a result of Clark’s uncommon leadership prowess which he said mDd sure that there was no walk out throughout the duration of the conference .

    In his contribution,Chief Phillip Asiodu noted that Clark is always frank and persistent in his quest for a federalism  in the country where fairness and equity take precedence. 

  • Edo Assembly crisis: Clark warns against anarchy

    IJAW Leader Chief Edwin Clark has disagreed with the Senate’s position on the Edo State Assembly crisis. Clark claimed that the order for Governor Godwin Obaseki to issue a fresh proclamation was unconstitutional and wrong.

    He, therefore, warned the National Assembly against creating anarchy in the state.

    This is the second time the elder statesman would be reacting to the position of the National Assembly. Last week, he wrote to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to rescind his directive that Obaseki should issue a fresh proclamation.

    Clark, in his letter to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, noted that Section 101 of the Constitution allows every Legislature to adopt its own house rules. He, therefore, said the situation in Edo has not gotten to one in which the National Assembly will invoke the constitution.

    The former National Commissioner also disagreed with the Senate, saying Section 105 (3) rests the exclusive prerogative of that function squarely on the governor. Consequently, he said the senate was totally wrong to have directed the governor to issue a fresh proclamation after the first one.

    He said: “I stressed the issue of the House’ inability to function as a sine qua none, defeating any pretence of the House of Representatives to interfere. Rather than abate, it appears that the House of Representatives went on to recruit the Senate, or the Red Chamber saw a competitive angle in the matter and plunged in, head first, eyes closed, to complement the House of Representatives in the perverse onslaught in the Edo State governance structure. The Senate seems not aware of, or is too possessed of a mindset that blinds it against the many provisions in the Constitution which supersedes the fact that the two components of the National Assembly working in tandem on the Edo State project.

    Read Also: Buhari, Jonathan greet Clark at 92

    “For the avoidance of any doubt, I ask the National Assembly to take into consideration Section 11 (4), which states that “At any time when any House of Assembly of a state is unable to perform its functions by reasons of the situation prevailing in that state, the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good governance with respect to matters on which a House of Assembly may make laws as may appear to the National Assembly to be necessary or expedient until such time as the House of Assembly is able to resume its functions; and any such laws enacted by the National Assembly pursuant to this section shall have effect as if they were laws enacted by the House of Assembly of the state: provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as conferring on the National Assembly power to remove the Governor or the Deputy Governor of the State from office…”

    “It is unconstitutional and wrong for the National Assembly to “order, direct” the Edo State Governor to issue a fresh proclamation. Section 3 places such activity squarely on the Exclusive List.

    “The Edo State House of Assembly at present is functioning properly, and in fact, has gone to court to challenge the action of the 16 elected members who were not present at the inauguration, who in fact, were not yet members of the Edo State House of Assembly, because, they were not been sworn in by the elected Speaker of the House.”

  • Minority officers crisis: Edwin Clark urges PDP to be peaceful

    ELDER statesman and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Edwin Clark has called for truce in the intra-party triggered by the the emergence of minority leadership in the House of Representatives.

    Clark urged his party, the PDP to face issues of national interests as the main opposition party and allow peace to reign in the Ninth Assembly.

    In a chat with reporters on Sunday in Abuja, Clark said that the tussle was unnecessary, advising the PDP to accept Ndudi Elumelu as announced by House of Representatives Speaker Gbajabiamila as the Minority Leader.

    The PDP had on Friday suspended Elumelu and six other members of House of Representatives for one month over their alleged involvement in the crisis.

    Other suspended members are: Wole Oke, Lynda Ikpeazu, Anayo Edwin, Gideon Gwadi, Toby Okechukwu and Adekoya Abdul-Majid.

    Clark said that there were major issues in the country that PDP should concern itself with.

    The Ijaw leaders said: “I believe that if there are about 141 opposition members in the House of Representatives and 121 of them belong to PDP, the other 20 members are members of the House and they must be consulted.

    “So, if the members of the House who are in opposition all agree that this is what we want to do, I will appeal to PDP to face larger problems in this country.

    “Ruga is there and there are many other things in this country that are going wrong. PDP should play the role of opposition effectively in those areas and leave this matter. It is done.

    “If the Speaker has already announced that this is the Minority Leader now there is nothing anyone can do.  Otherwise, you want to create problem in the House which should not be.

    “So, I am advising the PDP leadership now that they have suspended them for a month, that may be enough sanction. Allow what has happened in the House to go on. They are all members of the PDP.”

    Clark urged that democracy should be allowed to prevail and institutions should be allowed to do their jobs in the country.

    The elder statesman said that there was no place even in the PDP constitution which says it should nominate people and forward to the House, saying “the National Assembly has its rules and regulations.

    He went further that “Rule 8 of the NASS, I think, says that elected members of the House whether they are majority or minority should sit among themselves and elect their members.

    Read Also: Police probe illegal raid on Edwin Clark’s residence

    “They did not say that one political party should nominate people for the chairman or secretary to come and submit to NASS.

    “I don’t think there is anything like that. But the party has to be in the know, I agree. But the whole thing that happened, we should be thinking about major things.”

    He said that the PDP established the precedent in the Seventh National Assembly, when the speakership position was zoned to the Southwest and Aminu Tambuwal, Northwest contested and won, against the wish of the party.

    He said: “Everyone of one of us went to the House, including PDP Board of Trustees chairman, the late Chief Tony Anenih, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and many PDP members were there and election was conducted among the lawmakers.

    “Mulikat Akande, who was the party’s choice agreed to contest and PDP allowed the elections to go on and the end, Tambuwal won and Emeka Ihedioha became his deputy. Heavens did not fall.

    “Commonsense prevailed and they moved on but again, that was the beginning of the problem of the PDP. When at the end of it, Tambuwal for reasons best known to him defected.”

  • Nigeria must unite to fight insecurity, says Edwin Clark

    The Ijaw Leader, Chief Edwin Clark on Saturday called on all Nigerians to unite in their efforts to contain insecurity in the country.

    Read Also: Why ethnic nationalities adopted Atiku, by Clark

    Clark who turned 92 on Saturday 25th May 2019 warned that should the country fail to unite, it might degenerate, which will not be too good for the existence of the country.
    Details later…..

  • Breaking: I’ll reclaim my mandate, Atiku vows

    The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar has vowed to reclaim his stolen mandate.

    Atiku had approached the Electoral Tribunal, claiming he won the Presidential Election.

    The PDP Presidential candidate, who spoke in Abuja during a visit to the leaders of the Southern and Middle Belt regions, said the struggle to reclaim the mandate would be achievable with support of the elders.

    Read Also: Presidential election: PDP, Atiku file petition a day to deadline

    He was optimistic that justice will be done eventually.

    He thanked the various leaders for their support before, during and after the election.

    Meanwhile, the South-Sourh leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has assured Atiku of the support of the group in the struggle to reclaim his mandate.

    Details shortly…