The late renowned Ijaw leader and elder statesman, Edwin Clark, was a lawyer and politician. He worked with the administrations of Samuel Ogbemudia, a former military governor, and Gen. Yakubu Gowon, a former Head of State, between 1966 and 1975.
Until his death in February 2025 at the ripe age of 97, Clark, who founded Edwin Clark University in 2015, was a strong voice for the emancipation of the oppressed and the Niger Delta, where he hailed from.
Although many viewed the late Clark as controversial, those who knew him well and worked closely with him maintained that he was a no-nonsense man who would not remain silent in the face of tyranny, to paraphrase the words of Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka.
For some inexplicable reasons, however, talks about him being controversial have again been gaining traction, especially after the details of his Will surfaced recently.
In the Will sighted by Society Watch, the deceased left behind billions of naira in several banks, and properties scattered all over the country. However, Clark reportedly deliberately left his three wives in the cold, as they are not included among the beneficiaries of his vast estate in the Will prepared in October 2022.
Reading the Will titled “The Last Will and Testament of Chief (Dr.) Edwin Kiagbodo Clark” to family members in June 2025, M. A. Akujobi (Miss) of M. A. Akujobi & Co., Head of Chambers, Legal Practitioners, Effurun/Warri, Delta State, stated that Mrs. Elizabeth Kofo Clark, Mrs. Theresa Clark and Abisola Sodipo-Clark shall not be beneficiaries.
The reason, it is stated in the Will, is simply because they had been “constructively” divorced and did not live with him for a long time before his death – he had reportedly sent them away when he discovered that “they were no longer useful to him.”
It was also revealed that the late Clark appointed Dr. C. C. Clark, Mrs. Koshare Clark-Omoudoye, Prof. Victor Esekumemu Clark, and Barr. Andrew A. Bekederemo, all of the late Chief Bekederemo-Ogein family of Kiagbodo Town in the Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria, to be the Executors of the Will.
Their duties and assignments, according to the Will, shall be funded from and by the proceeds of his estate.
In the Will, it is stated that the beneficiaries shall be his 15 children.
The late Clark also directed that all his nephews and nieces, who are presently benefitting from him, either by way of funding their education, employment, or otherwise, will continue to enjoy such benefits from his estate, if they are still alive until they complete their tertiary education; and those in employment or any other position shall live on their own or those who have been removed due to dishonest practice or through reasons that may be given or decided by the Executors.
He directed that his “property, building and/or residence in Kiagbodo and/or every other building owned by him or identified by him and/or others to be his should be treated as a family house where all his children shall have access to and take abode whenever they visit Kiagbodo.”
However, he inserted a caveat to the effect that “a child who neglects, refuses, fails and or omits to visit Kiagbodo consecutively in three years will/shall forfeit his/her right to the benefits accruing and accruable to such a child from his estate/property wherever such property may be situate for a period of three years and/or until he/she fulfils my wish as above herein stated/directed, excepting such beneficiaries resident outside Nigeria.”
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