Edwin Clark’s family announced the elder statesman’s death on Monday night. The nonagenarian was a loud and enduring voice against decades of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
Clark was born on May 25, 1927, in Kiagbodo of present-day Delta State. He had his primary and secondary school education at Effurun, Okrika and Afugbene. He got his tertiary education at the Government Teacher Training College (now Delta State University). Clark briefly worked as a school teacher before he moved abroad for a law degree. As a student at Holborn College in London, Clark was an active member of the West African Students Union (WASU).
After the 1966 military coup which ushered in new levels of tribalism in the country, the military government needed a better constitution that could work for the whole of Nigeria.
Clark was one of the Midwestern delegates who rejected the idea of a loose confederation during the constitutional review conference. The delegation favoured ‘a united Nigeria’.
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He was the brother of J. P. Clark, a Nigerian poet and one of Africa’s pre-eminent writers.
Clark’s political career began when he was elected Councillor of Bomadi in 1953. He later joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), a pre-independence party formed by founding fathers Nnamdi Azikwe and Herbert Macaulay.
His appointment by General Yakubu Gowon as Federal Commissioner for Information made him a formidable advocate for the Niger Delta region.
Although Nigeria first discovered oil in Oloibiri in the Niger Delta region in 1958, it took the country over a decade to shift its major export from agricultural produce to petroleum as its major source of income. Nigeria experienced its oil boom in the 1970s under Gowon. Despite this, little attention was paid to the environmental concerns that arose from crude oil exploration.
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A VOICE OF PEACE TO TENSIONS IN THE NIGER DELTA
While the advent of oil ushered a new era of economic growth for Nigeria, the Niger Delta, the oil well of the nation, has faced a time of unrest that has persisted for so long that it outlived Clark himself. Albeit, the man was a beacon of unison and advocacy for the region.
The Niger Delta is home to both the Ijaw and the Ogoni tribes. The oil economy exhumed tensions ensued on different fronts — Ijaw-Ogoni tensions, environmental degradation due to oil exploration and militant terrorism. These problems birthed deaths, unhealthy living, political unrest, kidnappings and immeasurable levels of oil theft.
In 1999, for instance, the Nigerian military stormed Odi, a village in Bayelsa State, and killed civilians in a misguided effort to stop armed militias.
As a leader of both the Ijaw and the Ogoni, Clark advocated for peace to calm the tension between the groups. In March, 17 soldiers were killed in Okuama Community of Delta State. Clark described the killing as “very shocking, very barbaric and wicked”.
FORMATION OF PANDEF
In his attempt to protect regional interests, Clark played a pivotal role in establishing the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), a socio-political group focused on advocating for the rights and development of the Niger Delta. While PANDEF was created to provide a unified advocacy voice for the region, it sometimes faced criticism from those who questioned its methods and the effectiveness of its engagements with the federal government.
EXCLUSION OF SOME STATES FROM THE NDDC
In 2023, Edwin Clark called for the exclusion of Abia, Imo and Ondo from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). He said states that did not maintain proximity to the coastline should not be a part of the commission.
Clark asked if Bauchi, Sokoto and Kogi would also join NDDC since oil had been discovered in those states.
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OPPOSITION TO THE SCRAPPING OF THE MINISTRY OF NIGER DELTA AFFAIRS
When President Bola Tinubu ordered the scrapping of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs alongside the Ministry of Sports Development, the elder statesman opposed it strongly.
He said that former president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua created the ministry to develop the region in view of its immense contribution to the country and to bring harmony to the Niger Delta.
“We need to ensure that it isn’t scrapped without a clear plan for its replacement,” he said.
“We will not allow it to be scrapped, the government wants to use South South money to develop other Development Commissions. What I have noted so far is that there’s no basis for scrapping it. Yar’Adua had a clear purpose to address the security situation in the Niger Delta, which led to the creation of the ministry focused on developing that area.
“We have been working for some time now, managing our commissions. It’s not about that; it’s the administrative structure created by the President. Unfortunately, it was misunderstood by Nigerians due to its complexity.
“Why would you take over a ministry without any development plans, funding, or concrete actions? Even the East-West Road, which was meant to be under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, is not being addressed; it has been handed back to the Ministry of Works.”
At 97, Clark was easily the oldest most recognised Niger Delta voice. He regularly appeared on national television and shared his words in newspaper interviews, even in his final months.
The post Edwin Clark: An Enduring Niger Delta Voice appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.