NIGERIA’S democracy icon, Chief Edwin Clark, is dead. He died at the ripe age of 97. The former federal commissioner for information’s death was confirmed in a statement by the family, signed by Prof. C. C. Clark, on Tuesday.
His death is coming barely four days after the death of another democracy icon and chieftain of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Pa Ayodele Adebanjo.
“The Clark-Fuludu Bekederemo family of Kiagbodo Town, Delta State, wishes to announce the passing of Chief (Dr.) Sen. Edwin Kiagbodo Clark OFR, CON on Monday, 17th February 2025,” the statement said.
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“The family appreciates your prayers at this time. Other details will be announced later by the family.”
The democracy icon and lawyer was, until his death, the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF). The Ijaw leader worked with the administrations of military governor Samuel Ogbemudia and head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, between 1966 and 1975.
His political journey started during the pre-independence period when he was elected as councillor for Bomadi in 1953. Mr Clark subsequently joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC).
He was among a group of delegates from the Mid-West who opposed confederation at an ad-hoc constitutional conference set up by Gowon in 1966.
The delegation’s mandate was to uphold Nigeria’s unity and when proposals of a loose federation were tabled, the region’s delegates asked for adjournment. He was appointed midwestern commissioner of education and later commissioner for finance. As commissioner for education, he was active in the establishment of a Mid-west College of Technology which became the foundation of the University of Benin.
During the Second Republic, he was a member of the national executive committee of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and was the treasurer of the party in Bendel State (now, in part, Delta State and previously the Mid-Western Region province). In 1983, he was an elected senator for three months.
Beginning in 1996, Clark has been a self-described leader of the Ijaw nation. He supported the Ijaw ethnic group in Delta State during an ethnic crisis in Warri and has led Ijaw leadership delegations to meet political leaders.
His last public comments
In one of his last interventions, Mr Clark had spoken about the tax reforms proposed by the Bola Tinubu administration. The reforms had stirred controversies, with the North claiming it was meant to impoverish the region.
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In his intervention, the democracy icon had proposed that only restructuring would resolve the entire issue.
“Mr. President, the ongoing controversies around this tax reform, to me, highlights the need for a full and comprehensive constitutional review of the country’s fiscal federalism,” Mr Clark said in January 2025.
“In addition, there is need for political consensus building to foster dialogue among political stakeholders to ensure that tax reforms have broad-based support and are sustainable across political transitions.
“If we must live together as one country, Restructuring is a sine qua non. The issues raised for and against the tax bill, are all among issues which will be addressed if we restructure the country and produce a new constitution, or adopt the 1963 Republican Constitution. Giving priority to restructuring will give room for the overhauling of the tax system of the country.
“It is lack of restructuring that has led us to the quagmire we are today as a people; that is why we are here today. This brings to mind my usual slogan, that ‘except we restructure Nigeria, non-restructuring will kill Nigeria,” the statement said.
He had written Inspector-General of the Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, in September 2024, asking him to try Mr Nyesom Wike, when he threatened to set states governed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on fire.
“Wike is already dancing naked in the market place, with one leg in the PDP and one left in the APC. Either he wants a structure to protect the money he has stolen in Rivers State or for something else.
“That’s why I am calling on the IGP to investigate Wike, otherwise Nigeria will be in serious trouble. The youths of the States he threatened to set on fire won’t sit down and watch him do that.”
