Chief-Solomon-Lar
FG to transport Lar’s corpse to Nigeria
Nigeria’s
ambassador to United State, Prof. Ade Adefuye, has said that the
Federal Government will bear the cost of conveying the body of the late
pioneer National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Solomon
Lar, back to the country.
Adefuye said this during a Service of Songs organised by US-based Nigerians and the Nigerian Embassy in the US on Sunday night.
According to a statement, US-based
Nigerians and others from Canada, including Nigeria’s Ambassador there,
Ojo Maduekwe, trooped to the Nigerian Embassy to pay tribute.
Lar died last week at a US hospital. He was aged 90.
Adefuye explained that it was the
responsibility of the Federal Government to sponsor the return of Lar’s
corpse because of the “historic role” he played in forming the United
Middle-Belt Congress.
He said, “Taking care of the cost of the
body’s transfer to Nigeria is the right thing for the government to do.
The embassy had taken responsibility for repatriating the elder
statesman’s remains home.
“This is the right thing to do.
Nigerians should not be surprised when the right and proper thing is
done.
The Presidency wishes to express its appreciation at the historic
roles Chief Lar had played in forming the United Middle-Belt Congress in
the ‘50s in the run up to the country’s independence and then also the
NPP in the 70s to nudge the military out of politics.”\
He also hailed Lar’s role in forming the
G-34, which opposed the late dictator, General Sanni Abacha, and
ultimately transformed into the PDP.
Chief Lar’s wife, Ambassador Mary Lar,
said her husband, before breathing his last, clasped his hands together
and said, “Nigeria, one; Plateau, one; Tarok, one,” expressing his
desire for unity in Nigeria.
“One day we said to each other, if there
was ever an opportunity to marry again in another world and place, we
would look for each other again and re-marry,” Lar’s widow said.
October 15, 2013 by Jude Owuamanam and Sodiq Oyeleke
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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