CLARK LEADING ETHNIC WAR AGAINST UDUAGHAN

By NBF News

Foremost sociologist and politician, Prof. B.I.C Ijeoma, has risen up against Chief E.K. Clark and his group, accusing him of leading an ethnic war against former governor of Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan.

He said allegations of wrong doing against Uduaghan had remained unproven because they were manufactured by the group and had been so since 2007 when they opposed his governorship aspiration.

Recalling the opposition they mounted against Uduaghan in 2007, Ijeoma accused Minister of State for Education, Chief Kenneth Gbagi, of concocting lies which they could not prove before President Obasanjo.

According to Ijeoma: 'I think Chief E.K. Clark has chosen to be Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan's enemy or critic.

While he is entitled to be a critic, he must be an objective critic, he must have his facts. We were together in 2007 fighting Uduaghan. Then we thought we had facts. I was the spokesman before Obasanjo, with E.K. Clark and we leveled all kinds of allegations against Dr. Uduaghan.

'Obasanjo called us and said: 'well, you can talk about Chief James Ibori, that is a different matter, but about Dr. Uduaghan, this young man, I have found nothing against him.' So, we thought at that point we should soft-pedal and look at the facts before us. When we looked at the facts before us, we discovered that there were no facts, they were allegations to crucify a man on the basis of an unproven allegation. So some of us decided to lay low and let Dr. Uduaghan be.'

Continuing Ijeoma said: 'Unfortunately, three years after, the same people are still peddling the same allegations. I think the country should ask them to prove what they are saying. They should be compelled to prove that all these allegations are true. In July, I took some elders in Delta State to go to E.K. Clark to appeal that there should be a kind of understanding, that he should stop attacking Dr. Uduaghan and Dr. Uduaghan should stop attacking him. I led the delegation. I took a foremost nationalist, Chief G.I. Otobo, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire, General Paul Omu, General Peter Obada, Chief Chuks Ochonogor and Chief Peter Biakpara.

We went to have a meeting with E.K. Clark and his group and we reached an agreement that they should stop attacking each other and there was peace for a time. 'But this current court judgment appeared to have re-opened that wound again, that they are calling that Dr. Uduaghan be arrested. I want them to tell us what Dr. Uduaghan did.

'In  one instance at our July meeting the minister, Chief Gbagi started reading long lists of allegations against Uduaghan and I stretched out my hand and said give me a copy of what you are alleging against Dr. Uduaghan, so that I could go home and confront Dr. Uduaghan.

He said he would send it into my e-mail box. I said I am here in person give it to me by hand. Why send it into my e-mail box? Then General Obada also stood up, and said give us the fact and we will confront Dr. Uduaghan. He said no, he will send it into our e-mail boxes. Up till today he has not sent the allegations to us and they are still making the same allegations.'

On why he thought Chief Clark has not soft pedalled, Prof Ijeoma delving into his training as a sociologist and psychologist said there is more than meets the eye, adding: 'I am a Sociologist, I am also a Psychologist. There must a personal problem, may be ethnic, between Dr. Uduaghan and E.K. Clark. The bitterness E.K. Clark is exuding does not come from personal or individual differences, but something much more fundamental which E.K. Clark has not told us.