Pauline Onyibe Prominent Ijaw leaders including former President Goodluck Jonathan; Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri; Senator Seriake Dickson and the Ijaw National Congress (INC) President Benjamin Okaba, among others yesterday paid glowing tributes to Chief Edwin Clark, who died on February 17 aged 97.
At the lying-in-state and commendation service at the Ijaw House in Yenagoa, Jonathan said the late Ijaw leader lived a life of service to others and for a cause he was relentlessly committed to. He said the only way to honour the deceased was for his ethnic group to be united, irrespective of kingdom or clan.
He said Clark’s innate qualities singled him out as a leader not just to the Ijaw but also to other ethnic nationalities as attested to by the frequent visits of people from other parts of the country to his home.
He said: “The key thing for us the Ijaw people from Arogbo in the coastal part of Ondo State to Eastern Obolo in the coastal part of Akwa Ibom State to honour Pa Clark is to unite and not to discriminate against ourselves.
“Clark has done very well for us. He was a face of the Niger Delta and not just for the Ijaw ethnic nationality. “He was also the face of the oppressed people from the Middle Belt and other tribes visited him more than the Ijaws.
“He was very vocal, brave and can tackle any human being at any time if you raise issues that are against his philosophy.” Diri said the Ijaw nation was blessed to have had a father in the mould of Clark, who was known for his fearlessness, courage, intelligence and love for his people and Nigeria as a whole.
The governor said the state government had constituted a committee to consider naming iconic structures and streets after living and dead prominent Ijaw personalities such as Clark, Jonathan and Dickson to immortalise them.
He said: “We are not mourning but celebrating the good deeds of Chief Clark. “l like us to take a cue from his steadfastness and love for his people as he always spoke about the unity, and development of Ijaw until his last moments.”
