Solomon Lar dies at 80, Jonathan, govs mourn

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.