Chief Edwin Clark and the Call for Violence There is a Yoruba adage which says that Agba kii wa lo ja, ki ori omo tuntun woo meaning that The role of elders in the society is to ensure peace by applying wisdom to guide the young ones. One has always believed and has been guided by this adage in view of the realization that, elders have a crucial role to play in shaping society for the good of all. Just some few days ago, early in the week to be precise, the two major political parties presidential candidates made a no violence commitment before the whole world in Abuja, the nations capital and millions of Nigerians and the international community applauded this initiative in view of the acrimony and looming threat of violence in the build up to the 2015 general elections. But unfortunately, while watching the prime time news on AIT this evening of Friday 16th January 2015 at 8pm, I was taken aback to see self styled elder statesman and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark condemn the initiative of, let there be peace. According to him the idea of commitment to peace by the political gladiators will not work and there was no need for it in the first place. He even went further to query where it was ever done before where contestants to a political office were made to commit themselves and their supporters to peaceful conduct. From the way he conducted himself by displaying his anger on TV, one could see that Chief Edwin Clark body language suggested the promotion of violence because he was upset over the peace pact by General Buhari and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. The questions that came to mind was, what manner of elder is this who wants to see humanity endangered by violent acts? The societal philosophy of the role of elders as guardians in the society, is it alien to the culture of where Chief Clark hails from? What does Chief Clark stand to benefit by condemning the peace pact and giving support to violence? One thinks that its high time Nigerians and the international community come to realize that Chief Edwin Clark is one of the greatest danger to the democracy, peace and stability of the Nigeria state and it is important to alert the security agencies to place him on the watch list because of his unguarded utterances which is unbecoming of some one of his age and position in the society.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 22:06:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015