Ijaw leader Chief Edwin Clark has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade will give Nigeria a better future, if allowed to succeed.
The Ijaw leader spoke yesterday in Warri, Delta State, at the announcement of the academic year of the newly approved Law Faculty of Edwin Clark University, Kiagbodo (ECUK).
He decried the level of corruption in the National Assembly, calling for the investigation of alleged budget padding by federal lawmakers.
Clark, who gave a brief insight into the vision behind the ECUK, said he thought of leaving a legacy to further cement the unity of Nigeria as well as reflect his background as a teacher.
Speaking in the company of the university’s management team, led by its Vice Chancellor, Prof Timothy Olagbemiro, the Ijaw leader advised Nigerians to support President Buhari’s anti-corruption fight because it remained the only way to the nation’s greatness.
He said: “This country will have to be cleaned and I’m happy we have a President, despite every other thing, who has now stood up to fight corruption. We should support him. I know this country will progress, if corruption is reduced to the minimum.
“If corruption reduces to the minimum and this country is restructured, we’ll have a better Nigeria. I’m not looking for a Nigeria where some people are first class and others are second class. If you make some people second class, they will fight their way through and there’ll be no peace in this country.
“I am appealing to you – the media – that when you are emphasising those things that bind us together, bring out the ills of the society.
“These people, who are cheating us, these unpatriotic legislators, must be brought to book. There should be investigation of what has been on for long time: why they have been padding the budgets, including unapproved projects, which were not discussed on the floor of the House but put there by the chairman and those in the position to do so.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us and we must do our least bit to bring progress to this country. We must fight to preserve it. Nobody is superior to the other in this country. No one group can do it alone. Those people will be enemies of Nigeria.”
Also, the newly approved Faculty of Law for ECUK has been named after late legal icon, Chief Frederick Rotimi Williams.
The Dean of the new faculty, Prof Allswell Muzan, announced this yesterday in Warri.
He said the criteria of approving authorities, such as the National University Commission (NUC) and the Council of Legal Education (CLE), had been met.
Muzan said: “The regulatory approval is for initial 50 students’ take-off population, which is expected to grow.
“The chancellor and founder (Clark) named it Chief F.R.A. Williams Faculty of Law because of his love for him and the role (the late) Williams played in nation-building and the law profession, practice and education.”
Clark said he was grateful to the regulators, the school management and legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola, who he recognised for providing financial support and encouragement to pursue early approval.
He said: “We were lucky. Some waited for four years to get approval. The Council of Legal Education and NUC inspected and said we merit it. Afe Babalola not only donated N2 million, he told me that he got a Law Faculty in one year. ‘You can do it,’ he said. And we did.
“After 50 years as a lawyer, I needed a Faculty of Law where my body will be laid at my exit and the people will be there to see. When the NUC heard me say this, it said I could have it.”
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