Federal Commissioner for Information and South South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark has called on President Bola Tinubu to as a matter of urgency, implement the resolutions of the 2014 Conference held during President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Elderstatesman who noted that Nigeria is a big family and against this backdrop, leaders particularly Presidents, should avoid the temptation of making appointments on ethnic basis as such an act portends a very dangerous trend for the country.
Speaking Thursday in Abuja when he received a 10- man delegation of Igbo leadership led by former chairman of the Police Service Commission, PSC, Chief Simon Okeke
who visited him at his Asokoro residence, Abuja, the Elderstatesman said that implementing the report of the Conference will help reduce unite the country.
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According to the leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, “If President Bola Tinubu immediately implements the 2014 National Conference Report, it will help to re-unite the Igbos, bringing them to the position they occupied before the civil war.”
Clark who is the leader of the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF urged the Igbos to put their acts together in order to achieve their desire just as he said, “while courtesy demands that people appreciate when things are done for them, doing so with a slave-like mentality, is tantamount to adulation.”
He reminded them that Igbos should hold their head high, as they have always held positions of reckoning in the country, recalling the activities of past Igbo leaders like Jaja Wachuku who was a Pan-Africanist and most respected first Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, adding, “therefore, for an Igbo man to genuflect and say the Igbos should jump to the skies because one of them is appointed a ‘super’ Minister today, is to him an overpraise. Igbos who find themselves appointed to positions, especially at the national level, should see themselves as qualified to hold such positions, and not to be subservient. Because if other Nigerians are qualified, the Igbos are qualified too.”
Chief Clark who noted that he was very surprised and elated by the visit of the Igbo leadership which was to him, quite shocking, as he was not aware of any such plan to visit him, expressed his sincere condolences to them on the demise of Chief Emmanuel Iwuayanwu, who until his death, was the President-General of the Ohaneze Ndi-Igbo, said that the loss was not just to the Igbos, but to the people of the Southern and Middle Belt, and indeed to Nigerians.
He prayed that God will give the bereaved family, the people of Ohaneze and indeed everyone, the fortitude to bear the loss. Having said that, he once again expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the delegation for finding time to come and celebrate his 97th Birthday, which was held about two months ago. He said he felt quite humble by their kind words towards him, in appreciation for doing what he is only doing because he feels that all human beings are born equal. He said there is no conquered Nigerian, and advised that people who are appointed into offices should stop mystifying those who appointed them, seeing them as god.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation of Igbo leadership, Chief Okeke hailed Clark for always speaking out for them, against the perceived discriminations and injustices perpetrated against them in the country, just as he noted that the prayer of the Igbos is that God should continue to provide him with good and sound health for him to continue speaking out against discrimination, marginalization and oppression.
Okeke who noted that the visit was to felicitate with the Elderstatesman on his 97th Birthday which he celebrated on 25th May, 2024, said that while they appreciate the fact that the birthday was celebrated about two months ago and would have embarked on the visit earlier, they could not immediately make the visit because Chief Clark travelled to the United Kingdom shortly after the birthday celebrations, for his routine medical check-up.
According to the leader of the delegation the visit was also to show appreciation for the selfless leadership qualities Chief Clark has shown in piloting the affairs of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, (SMBLF), an umbrella body made up of the people of the Middlebelt, South-East, South-South and the South-West.
Okeke said, ” the Igbos are particularly grateful to Chief Clark for always speaking out for them, against the perceived discriminations and injustices perpetrated against them in the country. We pray to God to continue keeping Chief Clark in sound health and mind, as he continues to speak out against discrimination, marginalization and oppression.”
Other members of the delegation included Prof. Ihechukwu Madubuike, former Minister of Education and Health; Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, two times Minister of Finance, Minister of National Planning and Minister of Transportation; Tagbo Okeke; Elder Ken Enechebe; Amb. Orjiako Humphrey; Dame Dr Gladys Nne Nwafor; Prof Charles E.; Rt. Hon Chief Chika Okafor and Amb. Dr. Sir Paddy Njoku.
