It was with a sorrowful heart that I received the shocking news of the demise of our daddy, a foremost and respected leader of Urhobo and Ijaw nations.
I was privileged to have known him very closely.
My relationship with him dates back to 1988 when I was introduced to him by my blossom brother and friend Chief Emmanuel Eyafe Okorodudu in his house in Hinderal street Apapa Lagos.
Since then we have had a robust father and son relationship. Whenever I visit him either in his house in Lagos, Kiagbodo or Abuja he was kind enough to take me to his bedroom for private discussions.
He calls me periodically and his last call was barely two weeks ago. He was indeed a great man and a genuine father who cares for the well-being of his children.
He had rare gifts of life and only few people had his kind of privileges. His intelligence and sharp witted memory remained outstanding and uncommon.
From his childhood till his old age he had a robust history of unbroken strings of successes. He was a commissioner, and a committed defender of the rights of the people of Niger Delta.
He is from the rich and respected Bekederemo family. From serving as Federal Commissioner of Information in 1975, the Ijaw leader and politician from Delta State worked with the administrations of Brigadier Samuel Ogbemudia, who was Military Governor of the now defunct Midwest State, and Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon between 1966 and 1975. In 1966, he was a member of an advisory committee to the Military Governor of the Mid-Western Region, Brigadier David Ejoor.
Pa Clark was an unofficial advisor to President Goodluck Jonathan. He was a philanthropist who founded the Edwin Clark Foundation and established a university in his hometown, Kiagbodo.
His later days were by far better than his beginning in fulfillment of the holy Scripture.
He was an advocate of truth, a defender of the helpless and unrepentant fighter for good governance and development.
We have indeed lost a titan ,a rare gem a patriot and a statesman in the true sense of the word.
My heart goes to the family, Ijaw,Urhobo Nations, Delta State and Nigeria at large.
May his soul rest in peace.
Olorogun Dr Ebenezer Okorodudu, Executive Director, Project, Desopadec
