Angry reactions trail Ijaw leader Edwin Clark’s open letter to Obasanjo

The open letter
of Elderstates
man and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark,
to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday,
opened a can of worms in the polity. Eminent
Nigerians who reacted to the 10-page letter
expressed mixed feelings. While some welcomed
the letter others said it was not necessary. There
were also those who berated Obasanjo for opening
the flood gates of exchange of letters, which they
argued portended grave danger for the polity.
In the letter, Clark lampooned Obasanjo over his
18-page letter to President Goodluck Jonathan
where he accused the president of being clannish,
lying over his re-election ambition, training snipers
and listing 1,000 political opponents to be dealt
with. Countering, Clark called Obasanjo a liar,
hypocrite, unrepentant trouble maker, saying that
the Jonathan Administration was not pro-Ijaw.
Call Clark to order – Junaid Mohammed
Northern political commentator, Dr. Junaid
Mohammed, yesterday, asked President Goocluck
Jonathan to call Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark to
order before he plunges the nation into chaos with
incendiary language.
Mohammed, who was reacting to the open letter
addressed to Obasanjo by Clark, noted with dismay
the attempt by Clark to usurp the power of the
presidency and act as if he was Nigeria's President.
According to the Second Republic federal
lawmaker, Clark has no locus standi whatsoever to
write the letter to Obasanjo since the former head
of state did not address his letter to him.
"Obasanjo raised relevant national issues in his
letter to Jonathan and did not send it to Clark or
made reference to the Ijaw leader. If I may ask, on
what basis did Clark write to Obasanjo?
"I find it extremely irresponsible and unbecoming
of the likes of Clark to take it upon themselves to
insult international leaders like Obasanjo for
offering some pieces of advice that Jonathan should
have taken quietly with humility and thanked the
former president for his admonition," Mohammed
said, adding, "the letter written by Clark to
Obasanjo exposes the weakness of President
Jonathan's Presidency and calls to question
whether the president or proxies are in charge of
the administration."
Clark has right to defend Ijaw — Ezeife
Third Republic Governor of Anambra State, Dr.
Chukwuemeka Ezeife said: ''Anyone who writes
should be very sure of what he writes on national
issues. It should involve going down memory lane
to bring out relevant facts. That is what I think
Edwin Clark has done. As a leader of the Ijaw
people, he has no choice than to speak out when
the Ijaws were mentioned in a manner that he did
not find comfortable. He is only trying to put out
the fire, since Obasanjo accused the President of
being held hostage by his people. It is not good for
us to be allowing anybody to be throwing darts at
the nation. Such an act reduces the presidency.
Not replying Obasanjo will mean an insult to
President Jonathan.
It's time to unmask Obasanjo — Afenifere
Also commenting on the letter, Afenifere's
Spokesman, Mr Yinka Odumakin, commended Clark
for writing the letter and blamed Obasanjo for the
unending saga of open letters..
He said: "Obasanjo opened the flood gate of letter
writing and he should know that he is not the only
one who has a pen in Nigeria. Others who are
knowledgeable about the affairs of Nigeria like him
are definitely going to comment. I have read
through the letter by Chief E.K Clark and I think he
has served Obasanjo good measures. I think the
time has come for Obasanjo to be unravelled and
for him to know who he really is. I give kudos to
Clark for that wonderful letter."
Clark's letter is welcome –Falae
Former Finance Minister and presidential
candidate, Chief Olu Falae said: "This is a
democracy. If anything is topical, everybody should
be free to comment on it. There should be no hide
and seek about such matters. If it is topical and I
feel like commenting, I should be free to comment.
Comments are free, only facts are sacred."
OBJ provoked the Ijaws –Yakassai
Elder Statesman and founding member of the
Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Alhaji Tanko
Yakassi said that former President Obasanjo should
be blamed because he started the open letters that
seems to be heating up the polity.
Arguing that Obasanjo provoked the Ijaw people
in his letter to Jonathan, he said the former
president should have sought audience with the
President instead of resorting to writing an open
letter.
He advised Obasanjo to defend himself on the
allegations against him in Chief Clark's letter,
saying: "I think it is expected because of the way
General Obasanjo provoked all the Ijaws in writing
his letter to the President. I think every Ijaw man is
entitled to feel offended. It is none of their business
but they were provoked. The contents are natural,
allegations have been made, I think it is up to
General Obasanjo to confirm or to deny. The
responsibility for the heating up of the polity is that
of Obasanjo, he should have sought to meet with
the President instead of the open letter."
A terrible wind is blowing –Ikokwu
Second Republic politician and one of the founding
members of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP),
Chief Guy Ikokwu, concurred that Obasanjo should
not have written an open letter to President
Jonathan because he also had his shortcomings.
His words: "Obasanjo was living in a glass house.
The proverb says he who lives in a glass house
should not throw stones. But Obasanjo has been
throwing stones right from the civil war till date
and it has become habitual. If you throw stones at
people who live in the same house with you, they
will find a way to retaliate. So, it is not surprising
that his daughter, Iyabo Obasanjo reacted and now
Clark is reacting.
"Obasanjo is having serious problems answering or
rebutting the issues that have come up from these
letters. A terrible wind is blowing and where and
how it will end is not certain. Altogether, Obasanjo
has ruled the country for about 12 years. He should
have used the opportunity to transform Nigeria but
he failed."
It's time to halt the letters –Uwazurike
President of Aka-Ikenga, an Igbo intellectual think
tank group called for stoppage of the exchange of
open letters to enable President Jonathan
concentrate on governance.
His words: "Chief Clark's letter is one in a set of
letters. Many of us were not happy with Chief
Obasanjo's open letter because it was bound to
open floodgate of letter exchanges, which will not
be about the nation but individuals. Clark and
Obasanjo were ministers under General Yakubu
Gowon. They are not strangers to themselves so
Clark has the right to write Obasanjo. However,
these letter writings should stop; let us allow the
president to lead the country."
Obasanjo is a confusionist —Arunsi
Asked his view on Clark's letter, Hon. Arua Arunsi,
(PDP, Ohafia/Arochukwu Federal Constituency,
Abia), said: "I don't agree that Obasanjo is a
trouble maker but I can say he is a confusionist. He
wants to bring confusion to this country by writing
such letter to the present Head of State. When he
was there, nobody wrote him that kind of letter but
he keeps writing to others. To me, he is a
confusionist. And as a statesman, that is not good
for him. When I made my reactions last time, I said
that Obasanjo told lies because you cannot talk
about the economy being in shambles when this
economy is growing at seven percent while his
grew at three percent. So, in this case, that was a
lie. That wasn't the truth. So, if Edwin Clark calls
him a liar, well, to some extent, that may be
correct. Yes, I may not see him as a trouble maker,
but as a confusionist. He wants to bring confusion
to the governance of this nation. Ordinarily, what
he wrote as an open letter could have been an
advice even personally."
Clark is not helping Jonathan –Mbadiwe
However, Hon. Eddy Mbadiwe, (APC, Ideato North
and South Federal Constituency, Imo State), said
Chief Clark was not helping President Jonathan
with his defence..
" My reaction is that Chief Edwin Clark is not
helping the President at all. I think he should keep
silent and let time heal the wounds. I am not sure
that making all these comments will help the
matter in any way."
SOURCE: Vanguard Nigeria
Sent From David Aniemeka