By: Precious Eurgo
The National President of Federated Grassroots Newspaper Publishers Network( FNPN) Pastor (Dr) Dike Awana, said it received with deep shock, news of the death of Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, foremost Ijaw/South-South Leader and Nigerian elder statesman, saying “he will be sorely missed”.
In a statement in Benin, Edo State, endorsed by its National President, Pastor (Dr) Dike Awana, and Secretary, Tom Ogan , noted that “Chief E.K. Clark, was a colossus who swept through the socio-political landscape in Nigeria, in his glorious career in Nigeria as Teacher, Attorney, State and Federal Commissioner, Senator and Entrepreneur. A scion of the Clark-Ambakederemo dynasty, of Kiagbodo in Delta State, Chief E.K. Clark not only raised a formidable extended family that is arguably first-eleven in Nigeria, he was himself a towering personality that is the pride of the Ijaw nation where he hails from.
With remarkable cerebral prowess, Chief Clark, was a mobile library and a treasure trove of socio-political history that both young and the older generations drew recalls”.
According to the Federated Grassroots Newspaper Publishers Network( FNPN), “Chief Clark while a relentless advocate of rights of his Ijaw/Niger Delta people especially in the twilight of his life as PANDEF leader and a defender of the downtrodden everywhere, he was bold, fearless and dedicated to justice, national cohesion and development which earned him the prestigious titles of the Officer of the Federal Republic, OFR and Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON)”.
“We are gladdened that Clark’s life and times constitute resource and research materials for scholars on the pathway to selflessness, nationalism and promotion of education for family and nation building. We are consoled that he has tutored a few persons, who, we hope, will gradually grow into the very big shoes that he left behind in the Ijaw nation”, the IJAW statement noted.
“We condole with the late Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark’s immediate family, the good people of Kiagbodo, his hometown, the government and people of Delta State, the Ijaw nation, the Niger Delta and indeed the Nigerian nation over the great loss.
While urging the bereaved family to take solace in the fulfilled life lived by their departed patriarch, Dr Awana prayed God to grant his soul eternal rest.
