The National Coordinator Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG) Comrade Joseph Evah has reaffirmed the importance of forging a united front to ensure the Ijaw nation get a better deal in Nigeria’s polity.
Comrade Evah made the remark at the opening of a special condolence register in honour of the dead Niger Delta supreme leader Chief Edwin.K. Clark at the Nigerian Hall of Fame in Lagos on Saturday.
The IMG coordinator-Evah maintained that the Ijaw people will ensure the register remained opened till Clark’s burial.
The vibrant advocate for better Ijaw nation, hinted that the move is to state unequivocally to the Yoruba people that the Ijaw nation is no longer disintegrated.
“We want to tell the Yoruba people that we are together, when a leader dies in Yoruba land they close the markets in his honour.
“If you don’t have people they will deal with you, our revered leader Chief Edwin K. Clark is our own Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe and so we have to do everything possible to celebrate him.
“Clark died at 97 years fighting for Ijaw people he was in Lagos when we celebrated Ojukwu though we are Igbo people, we should honour him, when Awolowo died they closed the markets in the southwest we are going to repeat that in our region in his honour.
“The last gospel from him was federalism. He urged that we practice true federalism for all of us to be reckoned as partners in this project called Nigeria.”
Many Ijaw people were present aside the physically challenged who cam in their numbers.
