CHIEF CLERK AND CHIEF ANTHONY ENAHORO OF OLD BENDEL STATE ARE NOW SHOWING THEIR TRUE COLORS

Chief Edwin's Clerk, an Izon leader and indeed a self appointed leader of thee South-South geopolitical zone. The chief is also a leader of Nigeria of his dreams and contrivance, where injustice, deprivation, and taking reign supreme.

On July 1^st and 2^nd, 2002, the Vanguard Newspaper published interviews it granted to Chief Edwin Clerk. The interviews were captioned "Clerk seeks support for South-South Aspiration" and "Clerk Flays Southeast, South-South parley over president", respectively.

Admittedly, the chief has the right to air his views and opinion on issues in the country, just like any anyone else. Freedom of speech and association are tenets of democracy. When freedom of Speech is used to incite one group against the other and preach ethnic discord, its usefulness is lost. Clerk should realize that it is not his chairmanship or deputy chairmanship of the South-South Peoples Conference and the Chairmanship of the Still-born Bendel State Consultative Form exploration committee that confers the right to freedom of expression on him. The leadership of organizations does not replace elected representatives of the people. It does not authorize him to question the freedom of speech and association of others. Nor does it mandate him the spokesman of the entire South-South for not everyone in this geopolitical zone is a member of the organizations to which he belongs.

The chief's berating and calling to question the meeting of the political leaders and elected representatives of the Southeast and South-South geopolitical zones leaves much to be desired. His comments of not been consulted is self serving and an indication of personal aggrandizement.

His fears on the Southeast, South-South accord emanates from his selfish interest and inability to compete on a level playing ground devoid of intrigues, deprivation and injustice. What is wrong for the two zones that have been the most marginalized in the country to come together and demand that it is the turn of either of the two zones to produce the next President of Nigeria? Is this accord not a sound political strategy that will eliminate unnecessary rivalry between the two deprived zones as to which zone takes a shot at the presidency first? The accord is designed to persuade the six political parties to nominate their respective presidential candidates from the two zones. If Chief Clerk and his likes allow this accord to mature and achieve the intend results, the Chief can then present himself as a catalyst and provide the ligament to bind the heterogeneous population of the South-South into one ethnic group, and urge them to vote for the candidate of his choice.

Chief Clerk's statement that "…We must learn from the past, that the East and West have been our colonial masters, after the English, we believe that at this time, we must guard our independence jealously. We are not going to be the apron spring of anybody again".

The above statement is laughable. Mr. Clerk knows that the then Midwestern Region was part of the old Western Region until 1963 when it was constitutionally carved out of Western Region. Let me assume that his inclusion of the East refers to the Igbo east of the Niger since the other groups in the then Eastern Region and a sizable southern Igbo population is in the South-South. The Igbo never ruled Midwestern Region, which later became Bendel State. It seems that Mr. Clerk has a problem with the Igbo, including Igbo of Anioma, who unfortunately found themselves in former Midwestern Region, Bendel State, and today in Delta State. What is wrong with the Igbo of Anioma participating in the Regional or State governments they found themselves since the Federal government gave a deaf ear to their aspiration to be merged with the Igbo East of the Niger or to constitute them into a state and return them to the Southeast geo-political zone. Instead, the Federal Government heeded the advise of chief Clerk, chief Anthony Enahoro and their likes to use Anioma and southern Igbo ethnic groups and their territories to provide linkage to the non contiguous South-South zone and use their population to make up the population of that zone, while treating them as second class citizens even at the state level.

It is a common knowledge that Anioma was in the then Western Region because of imperial economic considerations. British exploitative economic policies could not rationalize the need to sink their resources in providing bridges across the River Niger to link up Aniona and the rest of Igboland, as that would not enhance their exploitation. The same policy affected Izon areas and they found themselves scattered in various provinces and presently states. River Benue is wider than River Niger yet the British constructed a bridge across the River Benue to lay the eastern railway line to evacuate groundnut and other agricultural products from the northern Nigeria to Port Harcourt for shipment to Europe. Anioma was part of Benin province in Western Region for British administrative and economic convenience.

It is a calculated misrepresentation of facts for the chief to include the Igbo as colonial masters in Nigeria. A person of his caliber and experience knows that Igbo has never colonized any ethnic group in Nigeria or elsewhere. The then Eastern Nigeria has been the most peaceful part of the country even before the advent of the British. There are no recorded history of conquest or empires but that of peaceful co-existence and trade even with the smallest ethnic groups neighboring them. This is the first time some one has accused the Igbo of colonialism. Regrettably, it came from a neighbor who has a lot in common with the Igbo and who ought to know better, but has chosen to bury the truth for relevance and political expediency.

There are abundant evidence that the indigenous colonial powers in Nigeria are the Fulani, the Yoruba and the Benin (Edo). There are numerous stories and history of wars of conquest of less powerful and less organized ethnic groups and nationalities sharing geographical boundaries with them. The trio was never at peace with their neighbors. They either annihilated, forcefully assimilated or imposed rules and leaderships on those groups. The seven emirs ruling Hausa land trace and derive their authority from the Sultan of Sokoto, a Fulani throne, and the forceful assimilation of Ilaje, a distinct nationality by the Yoruba are in a nutshell evidence of Fulani and Yoruba colonialism. The Ilaje is said to have settled in Nigeria long before the Yoruba. The Benin is still nostalgic about what they consider the empire of the Kingdom of Benin; an empire that declined centuries ago leaving the Kingdom without colonies.

As the advent of the British halted the Fulani and Yoruba military conquests, they resorted to other methods of advancing their colonial tendencies. The Fulani still maintains the loyalty of their subjects through the rulers imposed on them, religion and control of the Federal Government. They enticement them with low-level government jobs, incite them against one another, while taking sides with the more loyal group. The Yoruba on the other hand has sustained their expansionism with Lagos-Ibadan press and intellectual fraud; publication of baseless legends linking independent and distinct groups with entirely different languages to the Yoruba race, and manipulation of statistical numbers for political purposes without considering its devastating impact on future generations.

It is also reported that the chief said, "If we support the Igbo to have a president today the abandoned property will come back. The have not forgiven us I believe the issue of abandoned property shall be reviewed so that the Igbo will take all their property in Port Harcourt which will make them own Port Harcourt".

This paragraph reveals Clerk's leadership attributes, his person, his vision for Nigeria, and the legacies he would like to leave behind. The statement portrays him as a leader that thrives in injustice deprivation, unfairness and forceful annexation. Credit may be accorded him for admitting that the Igbo own those properties in Port Harcourt. His problem is that the Igbo may regain what they rightfully own. Port Harcourt is by no means a no mans land or an Ijew land. Its ownership is not in dispute. It belongs to Ikwere, specifically Diobu a southern Igbo ethnic group. State and geo-political zone boundaries are not tribal or linguistic group boundaries, otherwise Clerk’s clan and other Izon ethnic groups in Delta State should have been ceded to the Itsekiri and Uroboh tribes. Mr. Clerk and his likes should know that it does not require a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction to address the ill and injustices of the past including his nightmare the abandoned property, but a president and legislature with conscience and determination regardless of ethnicity.

It is a common knowledge that the Jews whose properties were looted and taken over during the Second World War (WW11) about 60 years ago have began to recover and reclaim the property. The Igbo properties in Port Harcourt were taken over and confiscated in similar circumstances. It did not take a German President of Jewish extraction or of any of the axis powers that allied with Germany during WW11 for justice to be done, but Governments lead by great men of conscience.

Clerk and his likes in the former Bendel State should not open old wounds. They should realize that those properties were not abandoned. The properties were victims of national conspiracy hatched by Ijew and other Southern ethnic groups to confiscate Igbo property and annex Port Harcourt (Igweocha). If the properties were abandoned, it should have been to Ikwere people, specifically Diobu people from whom land was acquired to develop the properties. Neither Ikwere nor Diobu people petitioned any group or General Gowon’s lead Federal Government for annexation. Neglected and abandoned property is never a concern of the Federal Government any where in the world, particularly when such is caused by crises and war. Can anyone argue that the Tivs and the residents of Odi who fled for their lives during the invasion of their villages and towns by the Nigerian Army abandoned their property and land?

Clerk in the interview indicated that he would not be the apron string of anybody. Maybe the Izon chief is tired of being apron sting of other people for he was in clique and tied to apron stings of his southern coconspirators from Yoruba, Edo and the Northern hegemonies to acquire the properties of fellow Nigerian under the guise of abandoned property.

The chief should worry more about the unity of his Izon ethnic group that is scattered all over the Southeastern states than the Igbo, the so called abandoned property issue and the unity of the various nationalities in the South-South and Middle Belt geo-political zones. Clerk, the self-styled catalyst and paramount political leader of the Izon should first demonstrate his unifying abilities by welding the various Izon clans and ethnic groups into a viable political entity and use his influence, if any to bear on the Federal Government to develop the area. Topography of the area should not be an excuse to neglect this duty. After all several countries of the world consist of scattered Islands and creeks. Well-designed maritime transportation system in those countries provides effective linkage and connectivity. This is a duty he has neglected and substituted with wishful thinking of annexation of his neighbors’ property and land.

August 2002