By Tunde Opalana
First Republic Information minister and leader of the Pan – Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, has admonished government appointees of Igbo extraction from the South East geopolitical zone not to mystify President Bola Tinubu for giving them opportunity to serve in his government.
Chief Clark, who said no ethnic tribe in the country should play second fiddle, submitted that Igbos are equally qualified as any other tribe to hold any position of authority under the Tinubu administration.
He said that being appointees of the President should not deluge their sense of patriotism and responsibility to their people.
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The Ijaw nationalist leader, who expressed delight in the qualitative contributions of Ndigbo to national development, said this while playing to a 10 – man delegation of Igbo leadership on a courtesy visit in his Abuja residence.
The delegation of the Igbo leadership, led by Chief Dr. Simon N. Okeke, a former chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), said the purpose of the visit was to felicitate with Chief (Dr.) Edwin Clark on his 97th Birthday which the elder statesman celebrated on 25th May, 2024.
The leader of the delegation said the visit was also to show appreciation for the selfless leadership qualities Chief Clark has shown in piloting the affairs of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, (SMBLF), an umbrella body made up of the people of the Middlebelt, South-East, South-South and the South-West.
The delegation said the Igbos are particularly grateful to Chief Clark for always speaking out for them, against the perceived discriminations and injustices perpetrated against them in the country.
They prayed God to continue to keep Chief Clark in sound health and mind, as he continues to speak out against discrimination, marginalization and oppression.
In his response, Chief Clark said there is no conquered Nigerian, and advised that people who are appointed into offices should stop mystifying those who appointed them, seeing them as god.
He said while courtesy demands that people appreciate when things are done for them, doing so with a slave-like mentality, is tantamount to adulation. He reminded them that Igbos should hold their head high, as they have always held positions of reckoning in the country.
Clark recalled the activities of past Igbo leaders like Jaja Wachuku who was a Pan-Africanist and most respected first Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“Therefore, for an Igbo man to genuflect and say the Igbos should jump to the skies because one of them is appointed a ‘super’ Minister today, is an overpraise. Igbos who find themselves appointed to positions, especially at the national level, should see themselves as qualified to hold such positions, and not to be subservient. Because if other Nigerians are qualified, the Igbos are qualified too,” he said.
He prayed the Igbos to put their acts together so as to achieve their desire.
Chief Clark used the medium to call on President Tinubu to immediately implement the 2014 National Conference Report in order to re-unite the Igbos, bringing them to the position they occupied before the civil war.
He said Nigeria is a big family, as such, leaders particularly Presidents, should avoid the temptation of making appointments on ethnic basis. He said such an act portends a very dangerous trend for the country.
Amb. Godknows Igali, who joined Chief Clark to receive the delegation, thanked them for the visit. He recounted the ingenuity of the Igbo man, who has the resilience to weather any storm. He recounted the activities of one of the members of the delegation whom he met when he served as Nigerian Consul General to Cameroon, how he was able to mobilise Nigerians in Cameroon. He enjoined them to keep up the spirit.
Members of the Igbo leadership delegation included Prof. Ihechukwu Madubuike, former Minister of Education and Health; Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, OFR, two times Minister of Finance, Minister of National Planning and Minister of Transportation; Tagbo Okeke; Elder Ken Enechebe; Amb. Orjiako Humphrey; Dame Dr Gladys Nne Nwafor; Prof Charles E.; Rt. Hon Chief Chika Okafor and Amb. Dr. Sir Paddy Njoku.
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