President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were some of the earliest to mourn founding National Chairman of the ruling party, Chief Solomon Lar who died on Wednesday evening.
Jonathan described Lar as a great leader whose immense contributions to national development would be missed.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has received with immense sadness and a feeling of immense national loss, news of the passing away of the former Governor of Plateau State and founding chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Solomon Daushep Lar,” Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati wrote in a statement.
“On behalf of himself and the Federal Government of Nigeria, President Jonathan extends heartfelt condolences to the Lar family, Governor Jonah Jang, the people of Plateau State, the people of the Middle Belt and all others for whom Chief Solomon was a much beloved, charismatic and inspirational political leader.
“The president joins them in mourning the passage of a truly great leader, whose eventful and highly successful political career predated Nigeria’s independence, having started with his election as a Councillor in the Langtang Native Authority in January 1959 and continued with his election to the Federal Parliament in December, 1959.”
Jonathan urged them to take solace in the knowledge that Lar lived a long and most fulfilled life, and that his immense contributions to communal, state and national development have assured him of a place among the eternal heroes of the country.
“The president believes that Chief Lar will always 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 highly revered elder statesman,” the statement continued.
“He also trusts that present and future generations of Nigerians will always acknowledge and honour Chief Lar’s role as one of the founders and architects of the country’s current democratic dispensation which he helped to establish and stabilise.
Jonathan also prayed that “God Alimghty who blessed the Nigerian nation with the gift of Chief Lar’s acclaimed leadership abilities for so many decades, will receive his soul, and grant him a well deserved rest from his earthly labours.”
Similarly, the breakaway faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chaired by Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje mourned Lar’s death, describing him as a colourful politician of substance, a first-class patriot and an accomplished administrator.
“As pioneer Chairman of PDP, he played a significant role in laying a solid foundation on which his successors built to make the party the poster boy of Nigerian politics and in sustaining and growing our hard-won democracy,” the faction wrote in a statement signed by its National Publicty Secretary, Chief Ese Chukwuemeka Eze.
“Chief Lar’s death, coming on the heels of that of another of our former leaders, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, has robbed both our great party and the country at large of a rare voice of wisdom.
“We pray that God Almighty will accept his soul in eternity and grant us Nigerians the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. We hereby send our condolences to the Lar family, to the Plateau State Government, to President Goodluck Jonathan and to all Nigerians. A great man has departed! Adieu, Chief Solomon Daushep Lar.”
Leader of the defunct Action Congress of Nigerian (ACN), Chief Bola Tinumu said Solomon Lar will not be easily forgotten, as when the history of the development of Middle Belt politics is told, nay that of Nigeria, his name will go down as one of the political juggernauts of our generation.
“He was a progressively minded politician upon which the soul and the rise of Middle Belt politics was anchored. For nearly two decades, he was the main issue in middle belt politics,” he said.
“He was a colourful politician, yet principled. He was grassroots yet urbane in his approach to issues. Even in the twilight of his political stewardship, he remained a reference point and a fountain of political knowledge and wisdom. Though saddened by his passing, we all must be encouraged by the fact that he served his people and Nigeria well.
“Solomon Lar soldiered on even when the political terrain was uncertain and lined with mines. Though forced sometimes by circumstances to change course, he remained a progressive at heart and never abandoned the principles of democracy and good governance I mourn his passing away. I condole with his family, relatives and friends and pray that God gives them the courage to bear this loss.”
Also responding to Lar’s death, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih described it as a great loss to both the party and the nation.
“This is, indeed, very sad and painful. Chief Solomon Lar was a great leader and pillar of our party. He was a Titan of democracy whose leadership and invaluable counsel will be missed by the PDP family, especially at this time when efforts are being made at genuine reconciliation,” Anenih wrote, saying the elder statesman would be sorely missed by the PDP and the nation, sympathizing with the family members, and praying that the Almighty God would grant them the fortitude to bear the loss of a great husband, father and grandfather.
Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson has described the death of first civilian Governor of old Plateau State and pioneer National Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Solomon Lar as most shocking, a terrible and a painful loss to his immediate family, the Government and people of Plateau State and the nation.
In a condolence message to the family, Government and people of Plateau State, Hon. Dickson recalled the pivotal role and selfless sacrifices of Mr. Solomon Lar to the enthronement and sustenance of the nation’s democracy, stressing that he always placed national interest above his personal considerations.
According to him, as a detribalized Nigerian, the political icon always used the various offices he held at State and National levels as vital links of unity and understanding amongst the different and diverse sections of Nigerians.
“As a Government and as a State, we are grieved by the passage of this great and principled Nigerian, who gave his all to the service of our nation, politics and our great party, the PDP.
Solomon Lar’s impeccable record of service as Governor of Plateau State and later pioneer National Chairman of the PDP have remained reference points to the younger generation of politicians and even in death, we would remain grateful to him.
To us in Bayelsa State he was a true statesman, a father in many ways and an inspiration, because he was too good to be faulted in most of his actions, especially in the political landscape of our nation”
Governor Dickson noted with satisfaction that, Late Solomon Lar has in a way contributed to the development of Bayelsa State, through the commissioning of a number of projects in the State during the administration of the first civilian Governor of the State, which is a clear manifestation of his detribalized disposition and large heartedness.
The Bayelsa State Chief Executive, who was full of regret, prayed God Almighty to grant his soul eternal rest and give the immediate family, his political associates, the Government and people of Plateau State, the strength and fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
