Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on Thursday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw the honour of naming rail stations after former President Goodluck Jonathan and Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
The elder statesman, at a virtual press briefing, described the gesture as “dishonour”, saying Jonathan and Awolowo deserved more than that, saying many people joined together with Awolowo were pupils who benefitted from his free education in the past.
According to him, clamping together people who have not made any meaningful mark in the country’s development alongside great men like Awolowo and Jonathan is not acceptable.
“While it is said to be an honour on the former President by the Federal Government and your Ministry, the Ministry of Transportation, because it is a known fact that the resuscitation of rail transport is one of the legacy projects of the former President, for us in the Niger Delta and indeed to well-meaning Nigerians this ‘honour’, diminishes the prestige of a former President when the honour is also bestowed on others.
