Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Clark, the father, Jonathan, the son

By Reuben Abati
16 October 2015   |   3:53 am
I HAVE tried delaying the writing of this piece in the honest expectation that someone probably misquoted Chief E.K. Clark, when he reportedly publicly disowned former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Chief Edwin ClarkI HAVE tried delaying the writing of this piece in the honest expectation that someone probably misquoted Chief E.K. Clark, when he reportedly publicly disowned former President Goodluck Jonathan. I had hoped that our dear father, E.K. Clark, would issue a counter statement and say the usual things politicians say: “they quoted me out of context!”  “Jonathan is my son”. That has not happened; rather, some other Ijaw voices, including one Joseph Evah, have come to the defence of the old man, to join hands in rubbishing a man they once defended to the hilt and used as a bargaining chip for the Ijaw interest in the larger Nigerian geo-politics.

If President Jonathan had returned to power on May 29, 2015, these same persons would have remained in the corridors of power, displaying all forms of ethnic triumphalism. It is the reason in case they do not realize it, why the existent power blocs that consider themselves most fit to rule, continue to believe that those whose ancestors never ran empires can never be trusted with power, hence they can only be admitted as other people’s agents or as merchants of their own interests which may even be defined for them as is deemed convenient. Mercantilism may bring profit, but in power politics, it destroys integrity and compromises otherwise sacred values.

President Jonathan being publicly condemned by his own Ijaw brothers, particularly those who were once staunch supporters of his government further serves the purpose of exposing the limits of the politics of proximity. Politics in Africa is driven by this particular factor; it is at the root of all the other evils: prebendalism, clientelism and what Matthew Kukah has famously described as the “myownisation of power”.  It is both positive and negative, but obviously, more of the latter than the former. It is considered positive only when it is beneficial to all parties concerned, and when the template changes, the ground also shifts. As in that song, the solid rock of proximity is soon replaced by shifting sands. Old worship becomes new opportunism. And the observant public is left confounded.

Chief E.K. Clark? Who would ever think, Chief E.K. Clark would publicly disown President Jonathan?  He says Jonathan was a weak President. At what point did he come to that realization? Yet, throughout the five years (not six, please) of the Jonathan Presidency, he spoke loudly against anyone who opposed the President. He was so combative he was once quoted as suggesting that Nigeria could have problems if Jonathan was not allowed to return to office. Today, he is the one helping President Jonathan’s successor to quench the fires. He always openly said President Jonathan is “his son”. Today, he is not just turning against his own son, he is telling the world his son as President lacked the political will to fight corruption. He has also accused his son of being too much of a gentleman. Really? Gentlemanliness would be considered honourable in refined circles.  Is Pa E.K. Clark recommending something else in order to prove that he is no longer a politician but a statesman as he says?

As someone who was a member of the Jonathan administration, and who interacted often with the old man, I can only say that I am shocked.  This is the equivalent of the old man deleting President Jonathan’s phone number and ensuring that calls from his phone no longer ring at the Jonathan end. During the Jonathan years, Chief E. K. Clark was arguably the most vocal Ijaw leader defending the government. He called the President “my son”, and both father and son remained in constant touch.

There is something about having the President’s ears in a Presidential system, elevated to the level of a fetish in the clientilist Nigerian political system. Persons in the corridors of power who have the President’s ear- be they cook, valet, in-laws, wife, cousin, former school mates, priests, or whatever, enjoy special privileges. They have access to the President and they can whisper into his ears. That’s all they have as power: the power to whisper and run a whispering campaign that can translate into opportunities or losses for those outside that informal power loop around every Presidency, that tends to be really influential.

Every President must beware of those persons who come around calling them “Daddy”, “Uncle”, na my brother dey there”, “my son”, “our in-law”: emotional blackmailers relying on old connections. They are courted, patronized and given more attention and honour than they deserve by those looking for access to the President or government. Even when the power and authority of the whispering exploiters of the politics of proximity is contrived, they go out of their way to exaggerate it. They acquire so much from being seen to be in a position to make things happen.

Chief E. K. Clark had the President’s ears. He had unfettered access to his son. He was invited to most state events.  And he looked out for the man he called “my son”, in whom he was well pleased. Chief Clark’s energy level in the service of the Jonathan administration was impressive. Fearless and outspoken, he deployed his enormous talents in the service of the Jonathan government.  If a press statement was tame, he drew attention to it and urged a more robust defence of “your boss”. If any invective from the APC was overlooked, he urged prompt rebuttal. If the party was tardy in defending “his son”, he weighed in.

If anyone had accused the President of lacking “the political will to fight corruption” at that time, he, E.K. Clark, would have called a press conference to draw attention to the Jonathan administration’s institutional reforms and preventive measures, his commitment to electoral integrity to check political corruption, and the hundreds of convictions secured by both the ICPC and EFCC under his son’s watch. So prominent and influential was he, that ministers, political jobbers etc etc trooped to his house to pay homage.

In due course, those who opposed President Jonathan did not spare Chief E. K. Clark either. He was accused of making inflammatory and unstatesman-like statements. An old war-horse, nobody could intimidate him. He was not President Olusegun Obasanjo’s fan in particular. He believed Obasanjo wanted to sabotage his son, and he wanted Obasanjo put in his place. Beneath all of that, was an unmistaken rivalry between the two old men, seeking to control the levers of Nigerian politics.

Every President probably needs a strong, passionate ally like Chief E. K. Clark. But what happened? What went wrong? Don’t get me wrong. I am not necessarily saying that the Ijaw leader should have remained loyal to and defend Goodluck Jonathan because they are both Ijaws; patriotism definitely could be stronger than ethnic affinities, nonetheless that E. K. Clark tale about leaving politics and becoming a statesman is nothing but sheer crap.  If Jonathan had returned to office, he would still be a card-carrying member of the PDP and the “father of the President” and we would still have been hearing that famous phrase, “my son”. Chief E. K. Clark, five months after, has practically told the world that President Buhari is better than “his own son.”

It is the worst form of humiliation that President Jonathan has received since he left office.  It is also the finest compliment that President Buhari has received since he assumed office. The timing is also auspicious: just when the public is beginning to worry about the direction of the Buhari government, E. K. Clark shows up to lend a hand of support and endorsement. Only one phrase was missing in his statement, and it should have been added: “my son, Buhari.” It probably won’t be too long before we hear the old man saying “I am a statesman, Buhari is my son.”  I can imagine President Obasanjo grinning with delight. If he really wants to be kind, he could invite E.K. Clark to his home in Ota or Abeokuta to come and do the needful by publicly tearing his PDP membership card and join him in that exclusive club of Nigerian statesmen! The only problem with that club these days is that you can become a member by just saying so or by retiring from partisan politics. We are more or less being told that there are no statesmen in any of the political parties.

It is not funny. Julius Ceasar asked Brutus in one of the famous lines in written literature: “Et tu Brutus?” President Jonathan should ask Chief E. K. Clark: “Et tu Papa?” To which the father will probably tell the son: “Ces’t la vie, mon cher garcon.”  And really, that is life. In the face of other considerations, loyalties vanish; synergies collapse. The wisdom of the tribe is overturned; the politics of proximity dissolves; loyalties remain in a perpetual process of construction. Thus, individual interests and transactions drive the political game in Nigeria, with time and context as key determinants.

These are teachable moments for President Jonathan. Power attracts men and women like bees to nectar, the state of powerlessness ends as a journey to the island of loneliness. However, the greatest defender of our work in office is not our ethnic “fathers and “brothers” but rather our legacy. The real loss is that President Jonathan’s heroism, his messianic sacrifice in the face of defeat, is being swept under the carpet and his own brothers who used to say that the Ijaws are driven by a principle of “one for all and all for another”, have become agent-architects of his pain. The Ijaw platform having seemingly been de-centered, Chief E.K. Clark and others are seeking assimilation in the new power structure. It is a telling reconstruction of the politics of proximity and mimicry.

Chief E.K. Clark once defended the rights of ethnic minorities to aspire to the highest offices in the land, his latest declaration about his son reaffirms the existing stereotype at the heart of Nigeria’s hegemonic politics. The same hegemons and their agents whom Clark used to fight furiously will no doubt find him eminently quotable now that he has proclaimed that it is wrong to be a “gentleman”, and that his son lacks “the political will to fight corruption”. There is more to this than we may ever know. Chief Clark can insist from now till 2019 that he has spoken as a statesman and as a matter of principle. His re-alignment is curious nonetheless. 

• Dr. Abati was Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

66 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Please let us leave our old people alone……when they stay too long in the loo of politics, when the usurp their roles and that of their children and children’s children what do you expect to see or hear? Many have said…contradictions, eating of their vomits, emission of senility, policy somersault, and announcements of retirements from politics with glee in their octogenarian ages as if that is spectacular in this digital age! Please let us respect our aged and old…..and where we cannot tolerate them leave them for nature to be their ultimate judge!

    • Author’s gravatar

      This is Abati best write up in months, however, does Abati have the moral stand to compose such? The answer will blow your mind… For Chief E. K. Clark, life is like that. Is only a fool, who will think, that he or she is loved. When you are the boss, paying the bills, who won’t like you? Former President should take a well needed rest. He did his best. Let those fighting for power, continue! in the voice of dame Patience Jonathan.

      • Author’s gravatar

        Too late brother Abati. The platform of our newsmedia is not a redemption camp ground, so to let you know that our trust and confidence in you is long lost. You killed the passions and expectations of your avid followers when you totally deviated from what you have preached all along during your pre-SA to the Johnathan government era. You totally disappointed us……With that said, we do not need your response on the subject matter. We are very much aware, we keep records and have displayed no sign of selective amnesia so far.
        Chief E.K Clark should bury his face in shame because the game is up for him. The both of you should tow El Rufai’s line and give a detail account of your stewardship if you really need Nigerians to start regaining their confidence in you. E.K Clark should begin from his days as a Federal commissioner, and must not ommit how little boys and girls would spend all day in the sun waitng for his boat regatta only to get a wave of hand from him, to his days as the father of the nation using Johnathan as a pawn to amass untold wealth while empowering his agents in ways that should put him and Deziani on the same dock. We now ask questions and answers we must get.

        • Author’s gravatar

          I have never really understood in what sense Abati totally disappointed. Is it just by virtue of accepting the offer to serve in Jonathan’s PR team or did he commit any other crimes against the Nigerian people that we haven’t heard of?

          • Author’s gravatar

            My brother, I am also puzzled! The Nigeria I used to know has “changed” drastically. In the Nigeria of today, Fulani herdsmen; kidnappers; armed robbers; suicide bombers; and all types of savages including the dreaded boko haram and occultists are the untouchables ruling! If you dare publish what they don’t like, you can be sure that you are in trouble! Be careful!

          • Author’s gravatar

            I believe he has been declared guilty by association.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Abati and Clark are both condiments of the same salad.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Both Reuben Abati and E.K. Clark are of the same stock. – Fluid political jobbers, swaying with the tides of time.
    Abati abandoned his stern criticism of Jonathan and took a 180 degree turn when he was appointed into the last administration. As shameful as E K Clark’s recent action and comments may be Abati lack the moral stand to compose such a piece.

    • Author’s gravatar

      But at least Abati did not openly come out to ‘disown’ GEJ, after been a beneficial of the government, That is his grouse and surprise with Clark.

      • Author’s gravatar

        Beneficiary of what?of a piece of our common wealth?or of a platform to engage in those grandiloquent concepts “prebendalism”, “clientelism”or what i will term”abatism”?.

        • Author’s gravatar

          lol..Beneficiary of the government of the day. If Abati had come out to say GEJ was weak, then I would be the first to cast a rock on him, However, he didn’t.

          Papa E.K. Clark, that acted as if he personally supervised the birth of GEJ, therefore no one could challenge him as he was his son, his morally wicked, after ‘chopping’ from ‘his son’ to come out to denounce him. Let E.K. Clark return whatever benefits he got from his association with GEJ first before preaching. Like Abati wrote, if GEJ had won, would Clark have ever said what he said?

          His type are political office holder’s friends.

          • Author’s gravatar

            I tried to deconstruct ur stand and I came up with a conclusion:that u expected pa Clark to tow the line of the cliche”honour amongst thieves”as abati did.put in another way pa clerk should have observed what the Sicilian mafias refer to “OMERTA” which is code of silence .

      • Author’s gravatar

        ..and what does it say about a man who double-downs on BS? Clark is a better man for what he did – he is bold enough to speak the truth after being blinded by naked power

        • Author’s gravatar

          Your view though.

          However, Papa Clark does not score any point on my list, as he is a fair weather man. If GEJ had returned to power, would he have uttered the statement? Never, he would have been moving around Aso Villa with his bowler hat assuming the tittle of ‘father of the president’ with all dignity, and telling all that cared to listen and not listen how good his son is and why he returned to Aso Villa.

          He would have made life miserable for APC and Buhari.

          Clark is a ‘friend’ I would never pray for around me. Really who needs enemies, if you have Papa Clark?

  • Author’s gravatar

    Birds of the same feather. Please enjoy your retirement in peace and spare us from your incessant drowning rantings. Respect for you is @ zero. You also sold yourself cheaply.

    • Author’s gravatar

      Indeed. Thank you Yemi.

    • Author’s gravatar

      Remi, you got it !!!

    • Author’s gravatar

      why did sell himself cheaply? because he was called to serve and did his job. you make it sound like he’s solely responsible for everything that was wrong in GEJ’s administration. Unless you have served at that level, please keep your frustrations to yourself.

    • Author’s gravatar

      Please do not get emotional or become unfair in the face of the truth. May we all be alive to see what tomorrow brings for us all including your new government.

    • Author’s gravatar

      President Buhari has been in power for 5 months so wait until 2019 and lets hear your views then. President Jonathan was there for 5 years and the electricity we have now was done, the ban on rice importation being contemplate by Buhari was made possible by Jonathan, Lagos Ibadan express and Sagamu Benin were started by Jonathan, 18 Federal Universities in 5 years of Jonathan to stem the tide of Nigeriasn Students going to study for Degree in Ghana Weave from Beninoise Universities, highest number of women in high profile government positions, I can go on. Please note I am not a PDP member but I believe President Jonathan did his best for Nigeria, that best may not be good enough for every Nigerian. 95 % of us outside government do not know 5% of what goes on in government so let us speak or write with conviction only when we have the full facts of the matter. God Bless Nigeria

      • Author’s gravatar

        God bless you Taiwo, my brother! You have said it all. Suffice to say, the trouble is, that about 65% of your audience are made of stark illiterates, zombies, “motorpark boys” and midnight-cowboys /or/ cowgirls, Fulani-herdsmen-cum-kidnappers inclusive. My conclusions; it’s a complete waste of time until they have suffered for 4 years or thereabout under the “change” thing they’d choosed for themselves, nothing else will convince them.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Too late brother Abati. The platform of our newsmedia is not a redemption camp ground, so to let you know that our trust and confidence in you is long lost. You killed the passions and expectations of your avid followers when you totally deviated from what you have preached all along during your pre-SA to the Johnathan government era. You totally disappointed us……With that said, we do not need your response on the subject matter. We are very much aware, we keep records and have displayed no sign of selective amnesia so far. 
    Chief E.K Clark should bury his face in shame because the game is up for him. The both of you should tow El Rufai’s line and give a detail account of your stewardship if you really need Nigerians to start regaining their confidence in you. E.K Clark should begin from his days as a Federal commissioner, and must not ommit how little boys and girls would spend all day in the sun waitng for his boat regatta only to get a wave of hand from him, to his days as the father of the nation using Johnathan as a pawn to amass untold wealth while empowering his agents in ways that should put him and Deziani on the same dock. We now ask questions and answers we must get.

    • Author’s gravatar

      speak for yourself alone guy!!!!

      • Author’s gravatar

        He had spoken for all of us, and that remains our position! So, make you do wetin u wan do. What Nigerians are simply telling Abati is that “we don’t need your opinion on any issues for now, in fact not again bcos you are a cash and carry opinion writer”. We don’t want his name appearing on the pages of our newspapers bcos he’s just a jobber and never a pro-people opinionist but a mere opportunist!

        • Author’s gravatar

          Why, if one may ask? You sound like one of those members of that thuggery oufit from the South-West of Nigeria with the unholy acronym “Union of Road Transport Workers of Nigeria” (URTWN) with a very bloody track record, especially in Oyo State, to the best of my knowlegde! Are you one of those bloody thugs? Because you started your comments as follows: “He had spoken for all of us, and that remains our position! …” Who has spoken for “all of (you)”? And then you continued: “… What Nigerians are simply telling Abati is that “we don’t need your opinion on any issues for now, in fact not again bcos you are a cash and carry opinion writer”. We don’t want his name appearing on the pages of our newspapers bcos he’s just a jobber and never a pro-people opinionist but a mere opportunist!” “… on the pages of our newspapers”! Does the Guardian belong to the group of your so-called “our newspapers”? This is not “the Punch”, Mister! Moreover, who are the Nigerians, you are talking about? Is it the “motorpark Nigerians”? Or is it the Nigerians of your “cult outfit” or which Nigerians do you infer? Nigerians, Nigerians …, this has now becomed a new fashion – to simply fool fellow illiterates and “pull cheap punches” or score cheap points!!! I am certainly not one of them; thank God we do not address other respectable people the way your types do! And thank God, that I do not belong to your league!!! By the way, why should Mr. Abati’s name not appear on the pages of a respectable Newspaper, that he had earlier worked in – without blemish? I am sure I know where you are coming from; no doubt one from the “change brigade” of today, who behaves like or is akin to the Fulani herdsmen, with their characteristic propensity for savagery, which has now metamorphosized into kidnapping-for-money!!!
          Dr. Abati has rightly written his own article and whether you like it or not, will continue to do so. Not even your commander-at-Aso-Rock will stop him. Period.

      • Author’s gravatar

        He did not mention your name either.

    • Author’s gravatar

      Well said. Abati’s epitaph will read – Here lies a man who leveraged gargantuan intellectual ability and public good will to become the mouthpiece of an evil regime

  • Author’s gravatar

    Excellent piece! And for those demonising Ruben Abati, you people should quit behaving like illiterates and stop the bad mouthing and focus on the content of this piece. He was chosen to be presidential spokesman, and i think he did his job very well, you can blame Jonathan for the failure of his own administration, but free Ruben Abati! Buhari served under Abacha adminbistration which is still the most hated administartion of modern Nigeria and yet many consider Buhari to be a good man, why is Ruben Abati an exception? I still have the highest regards for Ruben Abati!

    Men like E.K Clark are people in this country that should not be emulated, they lack character and are very divisive, and full of double standards, that is what Ruben has pointed out by this column, Ruben did not write this column to say Jonathan got everything right in his time, i challenge any educated person to say Ruben’s highlighting the good that Jonathan did by conceding defeat is not right. People must learn to be objective in their criticism.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Dear Reuben “Et tu Brutus” is actually latin, so the response should be in latin, not French. It sounds French, but isnt. If it was, it would have been “Est tu” not “Et tu”

  • Author’s gravatar

    Like father, like son, the corrupt rot.

  • Author’s gravatar

    .. This piece is just a moment in History. It calls for the writer to be more objective as a result of mounting of experience he gathers. Experience is the best teacher. we awaits your lamentations on corruption during GEJ dynasty.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Dear Reuben,

    Having experienced similar betrayals from team members of my ethnic nationality in previous leadership
    roles,I can relate with this experience.

    There is a tendency for direct reports and team members to make a claim of a higher degree of
    ownership(myownisation as per Kukah) over you when you are in a position of
    leadership. They sow seeds of distrust of members of other ethnic nationalities and project themselves as your most loyal
    and dependable ally.
    They try to influence your decisions to suit their personal interests and,if care is not taken,(as
    happened to GEJ),they potray you as being nepotistic,at best,and tribalist,at worst!
    Positioning themselves as having unhindered access to you,they further profit from their leverage.
    Should you however insist on higher values and principles(as GEJ presumably did),they disparage you as a
    “sell out”,”too much of a gentleman”,”lacking political will to fight corruption”.
    I have been severally branded a “Lagos Igbo” implying that I was lacking in some mythical Igbo
    attributes which were invariably inconsistent with fairness and equity.

    It is against this background that your virtue and courage must be situated and appreciated.In accepting to be the
    media spokesman of a “shoeless”,they say “clueless”, president from a minority ethic nationality,you undertook a class suicide!
    You brought class and panache to the execution of his duties. You only need to contrast his performance with
    that of Femi Adeshina and Garba Shehu to appreciate his quality and excellence.

    The more you performed, the more vitriolic your haters derided you!
    One gets the impression that youwere loathed for being “too loyal” to your boss.

    Though the circumstances may be different,Fashola need not look too far in finding an answer to the question on
    loyalty posed to him during his ministerial screening earlier this week~In
    you,Reuben Abati,the answers the former will find “Loyalty personified”.

    Bravo Reuben!My prayer is that “For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you
    again”~Luke 6:38

  • Author’s gravatar

    You may write well but the truth is that the opportunity is lost for you. Redemptive attempts by you in whatever form at this stage will only further highlight your desperation for relevance in the scheme of things. You had your chance and you blew it. Truth is, most people would consider men like yourself and Clark as the same and in the same category -political jobbers and men with serious lack of integrity and perpetual opportunists. Please go and rest in silence and leave Nigerians to think for themselves, trust me, we can do that we’ll on our own without your “intellectual” assistance and journalistic fluidity.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Abati is just being clever by half,he is testing the water to weigh public perceptions of him after his outing under Jonathan to know how and when he will launch himself into public space.the reference to pa clerk was a red herring.

  • Author’s gravatar

    It beats my imagination how supposedly “educated” or “literate” Nigerians read informative/educative articles with so much preconceptions and misconceptions fanned by deep-rooted suspicion, contempt, hatred, and disdain for the author, Pray, let all those little minds vilifying Abati go and read the write-up once again, and this time, with their minds as against their heads open to reasoning.

    Abati never praised Jonathan or the Jonathan-Government in his article. Never absorbed any, including himself of any real or perceived failure or misconduct. Rather, he only dwelled on exposing one of the tripods of CORRUPTION in Nigeria – that of “Pretense” or “Holier than Thou attitude” or better still, “‘Cameleonic’ attitude”, otherwise called “CAMELEONNISM” which supposedly STATESMENmen like E. K. Clark and their ilks, shamelessly showcase as if it were a VIRTUE.

    Thanks to Abati for letting us know better who really chief E. K. Clark is besides the facade that masquerades about with stupendous ill-gotten wealth.

    I sorry for GEJ.

    • Author’s gravatar

      We knew who E.K. Clark was before Abati wrote his piece. It is just curious that he is winning now that E.K. Clark finally speaks the truth, that he does not want to hear.

    • Author’s gravatar

      I honestly do not understand the vitriolic outpourings directed at this guy Abati. He had an opportunity to serve his fatherland and took it. If you are going to castigate him for serving under Jonathan, why stop there and not extend same treatment to those who served under Obasanjo?

  • Author’s gravatar

    We have followed Abati very well and we cannot be fooled again. We dont need his “eye or brain opening” advice any longer. He has not addressed anything new or unravel a new E.K. Clark. The old man has always been an opportunistic cunnning and crooked politician whom will never get a pass mark from a discerning mind. E.K.Clark knows very well that his old games are up!
    I hope Abati has the balls to go back to his former style of hard-core criticisms on this new government, like he used to before his days as SA to President Johnathan. Again, we can now express ourselves better and we await him along that line. Dr. Abati go sidon for corner and keep quiet.

    • Author’s gravatar

      Criticism has to be constructive, i think his target is a legitimate one

    • Author’s gravatar

      I’m a bit confused here with your opinions regarding Dr. Abati, you acknowledge he wrote the truth re: Mr Clark then you hopefully await his “hard-core” style of writing now his job as SA to President Jonathan is ended, then the clincher, you tell him, “Dr. Abati go sidon for corner and keep quiet. Pabloma, you smoke weed? or you just want to write for the sake of writing. If you cannot be coherent on paper please stop humiliating yourself and just read and sigh to yourself.

      • Author’s gravatar

        You should be confused, and please remain in that state of confusion until you are prepared to discuss objective contexts. Will not join issues further with you, but please apply a good sense of proportion and let opinions drive the debate/subject.

  • Author’s gravatar

    People like Abati in Nigeria journalism and Ebun in Nigeria judiciary system are the problems of our dear nation. Integrity is not in their dictionary, psychopathy is there watchwords.

  • Author’s gravatar

    This may have been different E.K. Clerk from the one who was having 21Cenema Houses in Nigeria after becoming Federal Commissioner of Education under Yakubu Gown Government, whose many Assets were seized and band from being given any Government official position for 10yrs by General Multala Mohammed, and General Banbagida returned the seized Assets him and others.
    The same man is saying somebody lacks will to fight Corruption. What an Irony of the true fact!

  • Author’s gravatar

    Reuben – we were never fooled and we would not be fooled. It was just that Nigerians could not do anything about it until the election came – and everyone rose up and sent you and your pay master out of office. E.K. Clark knows it now, you are yet to know it…it will percolate and one day you’d get it that Jonathan was corrupt and he ran a government stealing and bleeding Nigeria and Nigerians to death. You sold your soul obviously to Jonathan and you are still fooled to think that Jonathan contested against Buhari….he contested against Nigerian masses led by Buhari – the masses won. Your attempt to continue to launder Jonathan to the same masses that rejected his wares that he had provided for 6 years and promised for 4 more, is what is really pitiful. I see it as therapy for you trying to grapple with the fact that you sold out so cheaply. Well, good luck with your therapy.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Reading through Abati’s piece again, I noticed that he talked about “Jonathan’s messianic sacrifice being swept under the carpet.” And I ask: which messianic sacrifice? Was he expecting Jonathan to hold on to power after he has been trounced at the polls? How is his conceding defeat a “messianic sacrifice”? I am not taken in by all the sophistry. The man was rejected at the polls and he did what was expected of anyone defeated that the polls. That does not make him a hero. I refuse to buy into the puerility of “in the Nigerian context.” There is no such context because we are in a democracy. Abati and his ilk must know that even before they come out Nigerians have had enough of them and understand what they stand for.

    • Author’s gravatar

      Please sir some of your comments are so empty and without substance, for the 4 times your new ”Saint buhari” lost ”selection” from the OBJ DYNASTY, including when he and his wife wept openly on national TV as CPC candidate was that also what you will call your ”trounced at the polls”?…I pity all your types from the SSZ, in this geography called Nigeria. You are entitled to you view anyway.

      • Author’s gravatar

        Just as you are entitled to your views. I do not inhabit your universe. That is why I will not refer to “your types from XYZ zone”, because I am not talking to the zone you hail from. In its own time I made ample reference to when Buhari was trounced at the polls. Look at my previous writing in the past. We may disagree but that does not make us enemies. I am not a fan of Buhari. What I am saying is that in the civilized world, when one is beaten at the polls, he concedes defeat and that does not make him a saint. on this, we can have a robust debate but I will not fall to the level of labeling your statements as “empty and without substance.” This is also why I said I do not inhabit your universe. I have no aversion for debates and arguments, but name calling is not part of my repertoire.

        • Author’s gravatar

          The problem is that many of u have short memory. If the result of the elections had turned the other way, don’t u know what would have happened? That Jonathan gave free hand to prof Jega to organize the election in a free and fair manner even though it was still manipulated in the north and s/s shouldn’t that be enough reason to praise Jonathan? Reuben Abati is very correct. Any thoughtful person will know that what Jonathan did was “messianic sacrifice” which Buhari himself has also acknowledged

        • Author’s gravatar

          I wish you well, it is obvious we do not share the same thought line on what a real United and sane Nation should be. And by the way I do not have the luxury of sacrificing serious issues of nationhood, justic and equity on the plater of borrowed language called “English” as is the fancy/preoccupation of some of you. Bye.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Needless to say that the wish is mutual.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Abati I respect you just as I remain a GEJ person. The only snag is that Politics as an ”organization or CULT” HAS THEIR OWN WORLD. Thank you Oga Ruben, may God bless you. If God spares our lives these ”crucify him brigade of yam heads” including those who do not see anything in this well written statement of fact about Grand old fathers who are regretting their imminent demise so they do all to ”demonize” the young, will do same to their present ”Saint” and potential benefactor. God bless you Abati.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Abati Abati, the same power drunk ranting myopic and ethnic statesman that you could not advise the weak GEJ to stand up to has come to sting you people so bad. GEJ did poorly ,how I long for the day you will receive your own version son and father looting crap that you knew existed and stayed on for selfish gains. Thanks

  • Author’s gravatar

    Reuben just touched again the hypocrisy, mercantilism, individualism, parochialism of thoughts nd actions, capitalist greed nd oppression of the so-called ‘high and mighty’, corruption, ‘hero’ worship, etc in many of our so-called leaders’ lives, thoughts, speeches nd actions that have bedeviled political thoughts, actions nd developments in our country. Can there be a better sample of the vices that have dragged down our country than the recent outburst from Oga E. K. Clark on GEJ?

  • Author’s gravatar

    Vintage Reuben Abati. The Yorubas say “eye’le k’oni b’onile je b’onile mu, k’o wa sa l’ojo isoro”. But perhaps that does not hold water or meaning for geriatrics like EKC. God bless Nigeria and save her from the spirit of sycophancy.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Many of us seem to miss the point of this article: which is disloyalty and betrayal by those you reposed so much trust in. Reuben made no attempt to absolve GEJ or himself of any wrongdoing. He only expressed his shock and distaste for the Brutus-like posture which E.K. Clark assumed as soon as GEJ left power. If anybody could betray GEJ it should not be Edwin Clark. Buhari was a great friend of Sani Abacha. He knew in his heart of hearts that Abach was corrupt, but he never came out for once to condemn him. Even in the midst of his campaign he still boldly defended his deceased friend. That is loyalty, a virtue that does not exist in Edwin Clark’s dictionary.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Please remember Chief Clark is old and likely to suffer memory loss – to suffer forgetivness

  • Author’s gravatar

    One thing is missing from the header: political harlotry.

  • Author’s gravatar

    There seems to be a strain of anti- service to government or politicians in the criticisms directed against Abati. A certain feeling of betrayal. But we should all take note that we can’t all remain arm- chair critics.

  • Author’s gravatar

    I think Papa was so sure GEJ was going to win he staked a stash of the green wad on young wifey going to Senate. Me thinks its the loss on both fronts including tons of dosh that rankled him to try double speak in the hope of an invitation by the new sheriff in town for possible engagement or appeasement. There is nothing new under the sun, period.