In a recent interview, elder statesman and leader of the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), Pa Edwin Clark, addressed his concerns regarding perceived nepotism in President Tinubu's administration, echoing similar criticisms he had of President Buhari’s tenure, as reported by THE SUN.
Clark, reflecting on his open letter to President Tinubu, called on the new president to avoid the practices of nepotism, religious bias, and ethnic favoritism that characterized Buhari’s administration. He expressed disappointment that Tinubu appeared to be following the same path, citing the allocation of ten ministerial appointments to the Yorubas and only five to the Igbos as an example of unfairness.
Clark stated that Nigeria, throughout his 97 years, had seen the Igbos and Yorubas as competitors and collaborators, likening them to brothers who worked and played together while competing in intellectual and social spheres. He lamented that the Igbos, who were once equals with the Yorubas, are now being treated as a minority and second-class citizens post-civil war.
In his words: “Nigeria to which I was born for the past 97 years, the Igbos and the Yorubas were competitors, they were like two brothers fighting among themselves, working together and playing together. When you talk about the intellectual and social angles, the competition was between the Igbos and the Yorubas.
“But to see today that the Igbos are now being regarded after the war as minority, second-class citizen is a no. So I thought that when the new president comes in, he would reverse some of these things in favour of the entire Nigeria, reversing them and giving them to his own tribe people. It does not solve the problem.”