A renowned outspoken leader of South –South Nigeria and Former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark has voiced anger over the continued marginalization of the Igbo ethnic group of Nigeria.
Baring his mind in a letter written to President Bola Tinubu, Clark stated the need for restructuring to reintegrate the Igbos into Nigeria’s mainstream.
The Elder Statesman expressed disappointment that discrimination and injustice against the Igbo people persist even in President Tinubu’s administration, with unequal representation in ministerial appointments.
, “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, of which I belonged to, 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,” Chief Clark observed.
He therefore called for the implementation of the the report of the 2014 National Conference without delay.
The elder statesman who also criticized the allocation of less than 1% of a $22.7 billion loan to the South-East zone, violating the constitutional requirement for balanced economic development, urged the Igbo people to assert their rights legitimately and democratically, as they were marginalized and subjugated under President Buhari’s administration.
“There is no justification for this grave omission and no effort has been made to correct it.”
