First
civilian governor of Plateau State, Chief Solomon Lar, is dead. Lar
passed on in a US hospital of what family sources described as old-age
related ailment on Wednesday. He was aged 80.
Commissioner for Information, Mr.
Abraham Yiljap, who confirmed his death, told our correspondent that the
family had contacted Governor Jonah Jang to inform him about Lar’s
demise.
Jang, in a statement signed by the
Director of Press Affairs to the Governor, Mr. James Mannok, said that
Jang was shocked when he received the news.
He described the elder statesman as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria.
The statement partly reads, “It’s with
great sadness that the Government of Plateau State received the death of
Chief Solomon Daushep Lar the first civilian Governor of the state and
the first National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, who
passed away in the United States of America.”
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan
and Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa); and
Liyel Imoke (Cross River); a former Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar
Atiku, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and Dr.
Junaid Muhammed had expressed shock at the late politician’s death.
Jonathan, who expressed sadness over the death Lar, described it as a national loss.
He observed that the late politician
would be remembered for the exemplary humility, great vision, wisdom and
maturity which he brought to political leadership in Nigeria for over
50 years as a legislator, executive governor, party leader and a highly
revered elder statesman.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President urged the
deceased’s family and associates to take solace in the knowledge that he
lived a long and most fulfilled life.
Also, the PDP, the Baraje-faction of the
party and other eminent Nigerians had also commiserated with the family
of the deceased.
The PDP in a statement by its National
Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the death of the politician
had “left a big vacuum not only in the party but in Plateau State and
the nation at large.”
The party described Lar as a
quintessential politician and patriot, who sacrificed the greater part
of his life for the entrenchment of true democracy and an egalitarian
nation.
Metuh further said the “PDP at the
national level will participate fully in ensuring that Chief Solomon Lar
is given an equivalent of a party national burial.”
The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu also expressed shock and sadness over the death of Lar.
He said, “We have lost one of the finest
political figures of our time and a hero of our current democratic
dispensation; his death marks the end of an era.”
Also, the Alhaji Abubakar Kawu
Baraje-led PDP in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Chief
Chukwuemeka Eze, said that the country had lost a rare gem with the
death of Lar.
The New PDP described Lar as a colourful politician of substance, a first-class patriot and an accomplished administrator.
For Atiku, Lar’s demise was a national loss.
“Lar was a leader Nigeria needed at
each time of crisis,” Atiku said, noting that his departure will be most
felt at this time when there is growing disagreement among the
country’s political elite.
Atiku said the late Chief Lar’s “fight
for his middle-belt region in particular and Nigerians in general and
would be remembered by every worthy historian of this era.”
The Northern States Governors Forum also
described the death of the first civilian Governor of the old Plateau
State, as a devastating loss to the people of Plateau State in
particular and the nation in general.
Chairman of the forum and Governor of
Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, said with the death of Chief Solomon
Lar, Nigeria has lost a patriot of uncommon courage.
The forum’s condolence was contained in a statement signed by Aliyu’s spokesman, Danladi Ndayebo.
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