Ijaw national leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark has come under fire from Northern leaders and some governors who described him as an ethnic champion who does not see beyond his nose.
Clark had in an interview in the last edition of Saturday Sun accused governors in the North of engaging in blind stealing of public funds at the expense of their people and the region’s development. He also berated the region of regarding Aso rock presidential villa as its birthright which must not be contested by anyone, even as he specifically picked on Borno state Governor Kashim Shettima over the abducted Chibok schoolgirls and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal for alleged corruption.
His words “These people are very uncomfortable. As far as they are concerned if Jonathan today invites some of them to Aso Rock and brings dinner they would be lamenting, because they believe they are the people who ought to be giving Jonathan to eat. They believe that Aso Rock belongs to them; that it is their birthright. Aso Rock belongs to everybody in this country.
“Tell me one of the Northern governors that is performing. They are not performing, they are stealing the money, and they should account for the allocation made to them. Under section 102 of the constitution, every month they come with their brief cases to take money. Why can’t they open school for their children? Do they have to wait for the Federal Government to open schools for their children? Why can’t they build health centres for their people, why can’t they establish small industries for their people, why can’t they build roads? Some of them enjoy the poor system in their area, some of them enjoy the class system in their area, where if you don’t have food to eat they allow you to wonder.”
Reacting to Clark’s sweeping allegations, Governor Kashim Shettima described the former Federal Information Commissioner, as someone who acts against his age, praying that “I want to grow old like Clark, but I pray never to be like him when I grow old.”
“It is people like Elder Edwin Clark that do not really understand who we are and who we should be in this country. Power doesn’t last forever. Every opportunity you have is one that you must miss someday, however long. He is 87, he should be a father to all, and he should champion the course of nation building and not sectional interest, if for nothing else, at least for his age. From the moral point of view, God gives some consideration to the youngest and the eldest. Let us continue to urge him in a polite manner, to see Nigeria beyond his walking stick. The hat that he puts on should provide shield not only to his grey hairs but to the young hairs of other Nigerians regardless of where they come from. Age should always go with wisdom of tolerance, wisdom of truth and defense of it, wisdom of togetherness and national unity.”
Speaking in the same vein, a National Vice Chairman of the apex pro-North group, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Senator Joseph Waku described Clark’s allegations against the North and some of its leaders as the rumbling of a rabble-rouser.
According to Waku “At 87, Chief Clark should be more of a father than a rabble-rouser. Go to the states in the North and see what some of the governors are doing even with their meager resources. The monthly federal allocation to Akwa Ibom state alone is more than that of nine states in the North put together. He can criticize but shouldn’t make sweeping allegations of corruption and non-performance against the North and its leaders.
“If I reach his age, I will be more of a father than a thug. In some of his talks, you sometimes find elements of senility and thuggery and that’s why some of us don’t bother joining issues with him so that the public can spot the difference.”
Also, an ex-National Publicity Secretary of ACF and spokesman of Northern Delegates Forum, at the on-going National Conference, Anthony Sani, told Saturday Sun that when people like Clark alleged that the North sees the Presidency as its birth right, he wonders the basis for such allegation, adding that “the North has never made such claims precisely because the North knows such claim is not democratic. In a democracy where President is elected, it cannot be anybody’s right.”
He further said that: “Prof. Tam David West has since put to rest the myth among some sections of this country that the North has dominated government of this country. The Professor has taken pains to dispel the misconception in his book when he says the military regimes were cliques of soldiers and civilians from both sides of River Niger who never consulted the North before they seized power. More so, those Northerners also toppled governments headed by Northerners without consultation with the people. And so, military regimes could not reasonably be credited to the North alone.
“And if you look at the current democratic regime from 1999 to 2015, you would know that the South would have ruled for 14 out of the 16 years of this democratic dispensation. So how does that simple political calculation inform the allegation of North’s claim to the presidency as a birthright? I hope Chief Clark is not mistaking any challenge to the Presidency in 2015 from the North to be the same as the North’s claim to produce the President as a birthright. Chief Clark knows that democracy without opposition as a viable alternative platform is a sham.”
On the allegation that Northern governors are stealing their people’s money, Sani again said “governors are generally accused of dipping their hands into public funds for private use. But I do not like generalization. It is better we stick to what we know when making such weighty allegations. Especially when such allegations come from respected elders.”
On his part, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State, who spoke through his spokesman, Mallam Abdullahi Bego, dismissed Clark as an ethnic champion, who has refused to see and think beyond the Niger Delta, adding that “well, for emphasis, I want to state that our governors have not failed. In Yobe State for instance, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam has used every available platform to remind all and call on people to support security agents and to remain vigilant in their localities and to pray for peace.
“He has also provided thousands of our youth and women with direct employment and employment opportunities to help channel their energies to productive use. And the Yobe State government continues to spend heavily to provide for the security forces on the ground. It is the same with the governors of Borno and Adamawa States. They are also doing their part and their best and it is my considered opinion that anyone who truly knows the issues should commend and not disparage these governors.
“And for posterity sake, I think it is high time President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, in whose defence Mr. Clark is apparently speaking, call him to order and make it clear that he (Jonathan) is the President of the whole country and not a section of it. This call has become necessary because, by his carriage and utterances, Mr. Clark is pretending that he personally made Mr. Jonathan president and not the Nigerian people”, the governor said.
Speaking on the Chibok abduction, the former ACF Publicity Secretary said “I do not know the questions Governor Shettima has to answer. May be despite the state of emergency in Borno state, the governor prevented the soldiers from pursuing the abductors of Chibok girls soon after news of the abduction reached the military.”
On his part, Secretary to Borno State Government, SSG, Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda, said he it finds absurd, when people talk without facts and figures.
According to him: “In all the correspondences we got concerning Chibok, there was nowhere any of the letters asked us not to conduct exams in Chibok.
“In any case, the minister did not have the locus standi to direct the governor on such matters. We provided logistics as requested by WAEC. We wrote the police too, to provide security on a daily basis, as per the request from WAEC. And all these letters, we have shown to the world. Let those who have the other letters, show the world too.
“But let me reiterate here that at no time did we receive any letter either from the police, WAEC or even the minister, advising us not to hold the exams in Chibok. At any rate, as at the time of the exams, Chibok was considered one of the safest locations in the State.
“In actual fact, the minister’s letter only asked that security be provided for WAEC officials in Federal Government colleges in Borno State. The letter did not request that security be provided for students, let alone Chibok students. So which questions will my governor still answer?
“If it is about the President’s aborted visit to Chibok, I have explained that on several occasions. Before we left the country, we had no idea the President was going to visit. But as soon as we got information that the President would, on his way to France, stopover in Chibok, my governor cut short his trip to return to Borno. And while we were waiting to receive the President, we got the information that it had been called off.
“In fact, I was even telling the governor before we returned to Borno that normally, if the President was going on a state visit, they give at least one week notice, to prepare. But in this case, we had less than 24 hours notice. And my governor said we just had to return irrespective of the short notice.
“So, this shows you the governor is willing and ready to cooperate with the Federal Government to end this insurgency. And I must say that we must stop the blame game now, and concentrate our energies on how to bring back our daughters who are still in captivity. If not for the lies being told every now and again, we never wanted to make these letters public. But we have been pushed to the wall, that is why we are doing this now.”
On the corruption allegation leveled against the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, shortly before his emergence as Speaker, all efforts to get official response from the Speaker’s office proved abortive.
But sources close to the Speaker told Saturday Sun that if the government had been able to trace anything to Tambuwal, he would have been picked up, the same way former Speaker Dimeji Bankole was bundled out of his house, adding that “they actually delayed the arrest of Bankole because they took their time to look through the records very well. Unfortunately for them, they could not find anything incriminating against Tambuwal.”
Another source said, “When Clark asked Senator Ameh Ebute to abuse Tambuwal, at a press conference held in Clark’s house, the Speaker did not dignify him with a response. I am sure; Clark is not satisfied with the hatchet job done for him by Ebute that is why he is doing this himself. And even this too, I can assure you, Mr. Speaker will not dignify him with a response.”