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August 8, 2013

Military supports Nigeria’s unity – Clark

Chief of Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Ola Ibrahim

Chief of Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Ola Ibrahim

Former Information Minister, Chief Edwin Clark, on Wednesday gave the military era a pass mark, saying its political office-holders contributed to the unity of the country.
According to him, political office-holders, during the military era, emphasised the country’s unity unlike what their current civilian counterparts are doing.

Clark, who described the situation as “disheartening”, also noted that the self-centredness of many Nigerian leaders had led to the disunity in parts of the country.

He spoke when the Peoples Democratic Party Youth Transformative Movement visited him in Abuja.
He said, “If at the age of 86 and over, I do not believe in one Nigeria, then, when I die, will I be buried by a Nigerian or a white man? I served in the military and was Commissioner for Finance in the Midwest. I was also a Federal Minister of Information. During that period, even the military people emphasised the unity of this country more than some of the civilians did.

 “Before the civil war, we have always been united and during the war many of them (soldiers) fought not to be enemies but to keep Nigeria together. That was why Gen. Yakubu Gowon said it was not a war but a police action and at the end of the war, he said there was no victor and no vanquish.”

 Urging Nigerian youths to defend the truth at all times, the Ijaw leader noted that the country’s political class had used politics to cause confusion in the polity.

 He added, “Today, we have allowed politics to divide us to the point that we see the truth and we won’t speak it because we think it will not favour what we want.”

 

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