He was obviously the last man standing in the group of genuine Nigerian federalists. His belief in federalism was incontestable as reflected in his writings, his speeches, and his body languages. He was distant from those who thronged with federalists in the day and laboured with charlatans and pseudo-military and Unitarian politicians at night, he was a man of his own.
Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark was not one of the dyed- in - the - wool politicians of these days, who would run from pillar to post, from party to party, selling their souls for a mass of pottage. Instead, he was more of a technocrat, a bureanerat, who happened to have been discovered as a star administrator and tactician, and was given highly responsible positions to exhibit his skill as a leader and a frontline nationalist.
His commiserative skills were freely brought to height when he was appointed Commiserative for Education in the then Bendel state military government, his fame went out the world as an impartial, enlightened, responsible and respected administrator. His approach to work was so infections that he became a beacon of light for others to follow. In the stifling era of militarism, he became a focus for civility and purity. He was seen as a kind of civilian who came to buying some fresh ideas and fresh air into a murky, dark, era of impurity and dictatorship.
His influence was so great that the federal authorities were quick to notice, and soon shackled him from the state to the federal level, where he was made the Minister for Information.
There, he reorganized the information machinery of the Nigerian state from a rickety organ bludgeoned and blistered by the effective and superbly managed Biafran propaganda machinery, into an acceptable format of invasive information machinery.
After military rule, expectations were that the gentleman would join the crowd and jump into the “shaky” water of politics. But the man had other ideas. He quietly went home and organized his people into a strong force to fight for their rights to the resources of their fatherland, and the active participation of his people in Nigeria’s political plane.
With young Ijaw and non-Ijaw boys around him, he began the sing-song about “Resource control”, the principle of derivation must be restored, each state should control at least 50% of the resources that come from its soil. Allocation of oil wells should first be given to indigenes of the producing area, while the degradations of oil spills and other damages must be addressed instantly as they occur. Nigeria should be reorganized as a true federal state, with full desolution of powers, decentralization of structures and delegation of powers. Restructuring of the country was imperative. The political philosophy of Edwin Clark encompassed all these.
And this was not all. At the national level, clarke’s voice was ever resonant.
He opposed injustice of any form. He fought along with those who fought for their rights. He spoke against corruption and upheld integrity and fairness. His influence was abrasive, and he did not need to kneel for any office in order to bandy his weight around. He was above all that.
As the last true federalist leaves us, there is nothing much more to say about Nigeria. Those who wish Nigeria well, should follow the examples, the principles laid down by the great man.
But for those who do not care altogether about integrity, fairness, excellence, justice, and clear conscience, let them continue in their trajectory of impurity and malfeasance.
After all, the sage has said it all, that “the evil that men do lives after them”.
Adieu, Old boy!
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