Late Edwin Clark was a Nigerian Ijaw leader and politician from Delta State who worked with the administrations of the military governor Samuel Ogbemudia and head of state, General Yakubu Gowon between 1966 and 1975. In 1966, he was a member of an advisory committee to the military governor of the Mid-Western Region province, David Ejoor and was appointed Federal Commissioner of Information in 1975.
Clark was an unofficial adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan. He was a philanthropist who founded the Edwin Clark Foundation and established a university in his hometown.
Background
Clark was born in Kiagbodo, in the Ijaw area of what is now Delta State. He attended primary and secondary schools at Effurun, Okrika and Afugbene before completing further studies at the Government Teacher Training College, which later became Delta State University, Abraka. Thereafter, Clark worked briefly as a schoolteacher before travelling to the United Kingdom to earn a law degree. The poet J.P. Clark was his brother.
Politics
Clark’s involvement in the political process began during the pre-independence period when he was elected as Councillor for Bomadi in 1953. Clark later joined National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC).While a student at Holborn College, he was active in the West African Students’ Union.
After the military coup of January 1966, Clark was among a group of delegates from the Mid-West who opposed any ideas of confederation that were raised at an ad-hoc constitutional conference set up by Gowon in 1966. The delegation’s mandate was Nigerian unity and when proposals of a loose federation were tabled, the region’s delegates asked for adjournment.[citation needed]
Clark was later appointed Midwestern Commissioner of Education and later, Finance from 1966 to 1975. As commissioner for education, he was active in the establishment of a Mid-west College of Technology that 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 at the twilight of the Shagari administration.
Beginning in 1996, Clark was a self-described leader of the Ijaw nation. He supported the Ijaw ethnic group in Delta State during an ethnic crisis in Warri and led Ijaw leadership delegations to meet political leaders.
Other achievements
Clark was the founder of Edwin Clark University which was established in 2015.
In 2016, Clark founded the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) along with other leaders. The organization’s stated objective is “to dialogue with stakeholders and lobby for increased attention and implementation of restructuring, development and security policies by the Government of Nigeria.”
Death
Clark died on February 17, 2025, at the age of 97. Former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo described Clark as a “great brother, friend, a frontline lawyer and seasoned economist”.
A Nigerian pastor and blogger based in Warri, Isaiah Ogedegbe, described Clark as “a patriotic Nigerian known for his boldness and truthfulness at all times”.
According to Ogedegbe, “Clark was a highly respected leader of the Ijaw nation who was a man of noble character, exceptional wisdom and uprightness. He was a man who always fought for the good of his people, and was a conscientious defender of their rights”.
Source: wikipedia.org
