- S/West Has 10 Ministers whereas S/East Has Only 5.., Says E.K.Clark
By Abiola Olawale
As Nigeria commemorates 25 years of uninterrupted democratic governance, an Elder statesman, former Federal Commissioner for Information, and prominent South-South leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, has expressed concern over what the alleged as marginalization of the Southeast and South-South regions of the country.
This is as the national leader of the Ijaws accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration of continuing the alleged marginalization of the Igbos.
The leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) expressed concern over what he described as the treatment towards the South-East and South-South regions by the administration, even though Tinubu, a prominent figure from the South, is the number one citizen of Nigeria.
Clark, in a statement addressed to Tinubu, pointed out that while he appointed 10 ministers from the Southwestern region, only five were appointed from the South-East region.
Clark said: “Mr President, even in your administration, the discrimination and injustice against the Igbos has not abated. The old Eastern Region and the old Western Region, to which I belonged, were equal competitors and partners before and during the First and Second Republic but today, you have appointed 10 Yorubas as Ministers from the South-West, and only five (5) Ministers from the South-East, and you even failed to give them the ministerial appointment due to their region that would have made it six (6) Ministers. There is no justification for this grave omission and no effort has been made to correct it,” he added.
The Elderstatesman expressed worries that Tinubu’s government is no different from his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari whom he said allegedly did everything to subjugate Igbos during his eight years in office.
The elder statesman also pointed out that Buhari, during his tenure allocated less than 1% of a $22.7bn loan to the South East zone, while others received higher percentages.
He also recalled that the former President also failed to appoint service chiefs from the region.
Clark added: “President Buhari did everything to subjugate the Igbos for reason best known to him. Perhaps it may be necessary to cite some examples; the NNPC board which he constituted when he came into office had 9 members, 1 from the South-West, 1 from South-South, and no member from the South-East, even though 3 South-East states; Abia, Anambra and Imo are oil producing states; the remaining members including his Chief of State came from the North, a non-oil producing region.
“However, he later tried to amend it when he appointed Sen Ifeanyi Ararome as chairman of the second board; and he later replaced him with Margery Chuba-Okadigbo before he took office. He (Senator Ifeanyi Ararome) took the matter to court and won but the situation has not changed.
“Also, when President Buhari attempted to obtain loans from foreign financial institutions that exceeded 30% of the GDP which was not in the interest of the country; and the loan of $22.7 billion (USD), of which less than 1% of the amount was to be allocated to the South-East zone while other zones were allocated higher percentage for infrastructural projects, is a violation of the constitutional requirement to ensure a balanced economic development of Nigeria…Of President Buhari’s 17-man security chiefs, 14 of them came from the North and only 3 from the South excluding the Igbos from the South East.”
The elder statesman, therefore, called on President Tinubu to immediately restructure the country if the nation was to remain one. He also called for the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference Report, and for the Igbos to stand up and legitimately assert their rights.
“Now that the elections are over, we must face the restructuring of this country. I repeat the immediate restructuring of Nigeria must be carried out if this country is to remain one, and I appeal to Mr President to take immediate action to implement the historic 2014 National Conference Report which submitted 600 recommendations to the Presidency on how to restructure Nigeria in every aspect of our lives.
“The Igbos of Southeast or wherever they are in Nigeria, must stand up and assert their rights legitimately, judiciously and in a democratic way, to benefit like any other Nigerian as it was before the civil war of 1967”
