The Biafra Nations League (BNL), at the weekend berated an elder statesman in the Niger Delta, Chief Edwin Clark, the Ijaw Leader, describing him as an ethnic jingoist promoting his Ijaw ethnic group to dominate the rest of the South-South geopolitical zone. BNL Deputy National Leader and Head of Operations BBs Media, Ebuta Akor Takon, in a media interaction in Ikom, Cross River State, chided Chief Clark for his statement in a BBC Pidgin interview that the South-South is not part of Biafra.
Takon, an Ejagham, was of the view that the elder statesman was not speaking for his tribe and other tribes in the South-South.
The BNL deputy national leader alleged that Edwin Clark in 2007 was in Calabar for a meeting with Cross Riverians and Akwa Ibom people, persuading them to reject Peter Odili’s Presidential ambition. He said that Clark identified Odili as an Igbo man and should not be allowed to pick the South-South presidential ticket. “We have all his records. When it is for the interest of his tribe, he will gang up against others. Now, he said South-South won’t join Biafra, including the Igbos, but in 2007 he told us that we shouldn’t allow Igbo ticket in South-South,” Takon declared.
The BNL deputy national leader, however, acknowledged that some stakeholders in the South-South rejected Biafra, noting that they believe Biafra is an Igbo project.
Takon argued that the Igbo did not create Biafra. He stated that Biafra heroes were from Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers and Delta states; these he said included two remarkable warlords, General Philip Effiong and Col. Joe Achuzie.
Takon protested that Chief Clark has intention to dominate other tribes in the South-South under the guise of speaking for the people even without authority.
Takon maintained that there is confusion in the South-South because the people do not speak one language. “Some feel their tribe is capable of standing as a nation. for instance, Adaka Boro declared Niger Delta Nation for the Ijaws; then, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and even Edo were not part of the Niger Delta. It was for the Ijaws, even the Ijaw youths Kaima declaration, proved me right.
“Another person was Ken Sarowiwa who never believed that the Ogoni had anything in common with the Ijaws. He fought for just the Ogoni tribe,” Yakon narrated.
The BNL deputy national leader protested that Chief Edwin Clark and some elders from Ijaw nation are misleading the South-South people with the belief that Adaka Boro fought for entire South-South, so as to entrench the domination of other tribes by the Ijaw ethnic group.
“We won’t allow people from a particular tribe in South-South, who call themselves elders, to speak for my Ejagham tribe or the rest tribes in Cross River, Akwa Ibom and other areas in South-South.
“The time where some Ijaws will be telling us that we are part of Adaka Boro vision is gone.
“He is talking out of greed; he wants an Ijaw Niger Delta where people from the other tribes will not have a say like what they are doing to us now in the NDDC, especially, the Cross Riverians, whose oil wells has been taken away.
“NDDC only recognizes the Ijaw. That is why when the government settles the Ijaw youths and their militants, they feel they have settled all of us in the South-South. Even as Akpabio is the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, they are not happy, they want an Ijaw man, that’s greed, Clark should preach unity in the South-South before condemning Biafra”. Takon declared.
The BNL deputy national leader maintained that the South-South people are the aboriginal inhabitants of the Bight of Biafra and not the Igbos, pointing out that the Igbo people appeared to be more active in Biafra struggle because of their population.