Delta monarch calls for Edwin Clarke’s immortalisation
By Emma Ogbuehi
As Nigerians continue to mourn Chief Edwin Clarke, a Delta State traditional ruler, HM king Obukowho Monday Whiskey, has called on the Federal Government to immortalise the statesman who served Nigeria in various capacities.
Pa Clark, former Federal Commissioner for Information and prominent South-South leader, passed away on Monday night at the age of 97, according to a statement by Prof. C. C. Clark on behalf of the family.
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) leader, who was born on May 25, 1927, in Kiagbodo, an Ijaw community in present-day Delta State, was a Nigerian statesman, Ijaw leader, and politician who played a significant role in the country’s political landscape.
He worked with the military administrations of Governor Samuel Ogbemudia and Head of State General Yakubu Gowon between 1966 and 1975.
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In 1975, he was appointed Federal Commissioner for Information, a role equivalent to today’s Minister of Information.
During the short-lived Nigeria’s Second Republic, he was elected as a senator in 1983 but served for only three months before the President Shehu Shagari administration was overthrown in a military coup led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari.
His political journey started in 1953 when he was elected Councillor for Bomadi. He later joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC).
In his tribute on Tuesday, Whiskey, Uduehie 1, the Ovie of Idjerhe Kingdom and member of the Delta State Traditional Rulers Council, said Pa Clark’s death marks “the end of an eventful era.”
He wrote: “The passage of Chief Dr. Senator Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, OON, CON, former Federal Commissioner for Information, is the end of an eventful era.
“Papa Clark was a true symbol of the Niger Delta struggle. He feared no force and feared no man when the issue was about the collective interest of the Niger Delta.
“He represented the true spirit of the struggle. The Federal Government should as a mark of honour for his services to Nigeria and humanity immortalise his name to keep his legacies.
“We shall surely miss his boldness and high class articulation in the struggle of our people for survival in Nigeria.
“Rest on Papa Clark. The struggle will surely be taken to a higher level.”
