All Progressives Congress (APC) leader and former Lagos Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has described the recent attack on the Yoruba by Edwin Clark as lacking in wisdom and a “near idiotic vitriolic attack on any perceived opponent of President Goodluck Jonathan,” adding that Clark should be rescued before he self-destructs.
Clark had last week said the Yoruba have no leader, claiming that since the death of Adekunle Ajasin and Bola Ige, the Yoruba have been without leaders.
In a statement yesterday from Tinubu’s Media Office (TMO), the opposition leader said Clark should talk less and listen more. He queried his qualification to pass judgement on the Yoruba.
“Clark should not have insulted the Yoruba and some of their leaders. He is not competent to utter such a statement,” Tinubu said, adding that the Ijaw chief would be better tending to his own house instead of remarking on the quality of a home he knows nothing about.
The former Lagos State governor said the statement shows Clark is afraid of the giant strides being made by the opposition party.
“Clark is afraid that the progressive party, the APC, launched by Asiwaju Tinubu and other progressives throughout the nation which possesses the political clout to dislodge his ethnic kin from the Aso Villa. Thus, Clark hates Tinubu and all those who speak against the mis-governance taking place.
“Clark cares nothing for actual modern democratic governance that will move this nation forward, regardless of ethnic origin. He is obsessed with making sure his ethnic kin remains in the Villa by all means necessary; he cares less if the nation crumbles around him; as long as his ethnic son is on the seat, all is fine for him,” Tinubu said.
The statement said Tinubu never claimed to be a Yoruba leader, but can lay claim to being a national leader because he seeks the betterment of all Nigerians. “Can Clark make the same claim about himself?” the statement added.
It also said Tinubu has engineered the rebirth of the opposition in the country by working in tandem with like- minded progressives. “From forging the first political merger in the history of Nigeria, he has remained fixed on providing a platform for progressive governance and policies to lift Nigeria from the clutches of poverty and unjust government. This is not a Yoruba dream; it is a Nigerian dream. Clark’s utterances are part of our present nightmare.”
Warning that with utterances like this coming from Clark, Tinubu said the nation is on a political, moral and economic slide that must be arrested. “The nation is suffering and if this is not arrested, we shall crash against the hard rock of ill-fate. The crash will not be a pretty one,” Tinubu warned.