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“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”
—Aristotle
The axiom that evil prevails when good men keep sealed lip is indeed a time-tested maxim.
At a time when truth seems to have become a scarce commodity, perhaps, among the political class in Nigeria, there are still few patriots, who have seen it all that are poised to provide the right compass for a safe political navigation.
Despite intimidation, sometimes, threats and insults hauled at such individuals they refused to give up in the struggle of signaling enduring pathway for a better society.
They have all it takes to make themselves, their families quite comfortable for life, but they chose to toe the path of truth, most times, denying themselves the comfort so as to salvage their environment from destruction politically.
For such individuals, humanity is their constituency and their thoughts painted on a global canvass.
One of such few living icons is Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark who will soon clock 95 years in an eventful and fruitful life.
Clark, elder statesman, nationalist, first Federal Commissioner for Information, Niger Delta activist and PANDEF leader, is today a phenomenon of a sort, crusader for a country where all citizens will feel belonged if his recipe is adhered to by the powers that be.
There is no doubt that over the years his activities have shown him as a man that has dedicated himself to full enthusiasm and conviction to advance the vision of equity in Nigeria, the unity of the country, the peace and prosperity of all citizens.
Clark was at one of his best elements during the week when he spoke truth to power, making case for a Nigerian president of Southeast extraction, which has generated great debate with so much logic and bias from certain quarters.
Again Clark has strongly restated his support for the clamour for Southeast to produce President Buhari’s successor, even as he enjoined aspirants from the zone to close ranks and work in concert to achieve the objective.
The octogenarian lamented the continued marginalisation of the Southeast in the scheme of things.
Making a valid case for the Southeast region to produce the next president in 2023, during a meeting of leaders of different ethnic groups in the country, particularly, Afenifere, PANDEF, and Ohanaeze Ndigbo, among others, held in Abuja, he unequivocally asserted that “it is fair and just to cede power to the zone in the interest of the corporate existence of the country.”
Pointing to the historical background of Nigeria, he submitted: “Why the Southeast should have the presidency is because the children from that region are asking whether their own leg is k-legged, or deformed or broken, resulting in the inability of their zone to be president. If five or more legs out of the 36 legs of the pot are broken, definitely, the pot cannot stand.
“The Southeast people deserve to have a sense of belonging in this country. So, the clamour for a president is supported by me. Today, with no other tangible reason for the North to continue to hold on to power, some people are talking about merit and competence.
“Now that it is the turn of the Southeast, they are propounding a new theory: ‘It must be based on merit’ and all that. If it is the question of merit, till kingdom come, the South alone will produce the president.
“For us, the debate should be a straight one between the South-South and the Southeast. But, the South-South has occupied the seat for one term and the Southeast has never occupied it at all.”
Clark, therefore, enjoined the two major political parties, the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to cede their presidential tickets for the 2023 poll to the Southeast geopolitical zone for peace, unity and stability of the country.
The senior citizen is worried at what he described as the insincerity of Northern leaders over the principle of zoning, contending that after eight years of Buhari’s presidency, nothing short of zoning the presidency to the Southeast would resolve the restiveness in the country.
Just like Pa Ayo Adebanjo, another fire-brand restructure advocate and firm supporter for a Southeast president to take over in 2023, Clark is of the view that the APC presidential aspirants from the Southwest, were being propelled by power brokers in Aso Rock to aspire for the presidency as part of a grand design to retain power in the North after Buhari’s tenure expires in May 2023.
The conscience of the nation is of the observation that it is clumsy and inelegant for the Southwest to seek the presidency at this time, not after Obasanjo’s eight years as president and Prof Yemi Osinbajo’s eight years as vice president.
The nationalist believes that without equity and justice, without inclusiveness, without mutual respect among the component units of the country, the future is bleak for Nigeria.
The truth is that all parts of Nigeria have woken up to the fact that they have equal rights and, therefore, hold equal stakes in the Nigerian enterprise.
To continue to hold the Southeast down in the honest estimation of Pa Clark, is to continue to deny Nigeria the peace and genuine development it needs to emerge a strong, virile and great nation.
For quintessential Clark, simply put, Nigeria must be restructured on the lines of equity, justice and fairness or allow the different groups go their separate ways if peace must reign.
Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark was born on May 25, 1927.
He is a lawyer and a philanthropist who founded the Edwin Clark Foundation.
