Late Chief Solomon Lar, the pioneer National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and former Governor of Plateau, died as a poor man, his daughter, Dr. Chalya Lar said on Thursday.
She made the statement during her testimony at the service of songs for the late Lar at the Church of Christ In Nations (COCIN) headquarters in Jos.
“Baba has only one car at the time he died; I am not even sure he has up to N1 million in his account before he died,” she said.
The daughter said that she had cause to have a one-on-one discussion with her father as they travelled abroad on his medical trip.
She said that she asked the late politician why he did not amass wealth and build houses like other politicians but that the reply she got from him was on how he was educated on other people’s sweat.
“They contributed their sweat to send me to school; I cannot forget that,” she quoted Lar as saying to her.
She said that rather than telling her why he remained poor, the deceased stressed the need for his children to strive for good name.
According to her testimony, the late politician said: “A good name will always open doors for you.”
She said that her father was also a very good Christian and a lover of the people even at the point of his demise.
“He never ceased expressing faith in God and his love for the people while on his sick bed, even when he knew his end had come,” she said.
A former Personal Assistant to Lar, Mr Nanven Nimsel, in his testimony, described his former boss as a good Christian and a generous politician.
He said that late Lar practices self denial to a fault, adding that “this robbed his people of Langtang some good opportunities when he was governor of the state”.
He said that at a time when Lar appointed administrators for the then 14 local governments, he left out Langtang, claiming that as a governor he had represented them.
Nimsel said that was the reason Langtang did not have the presence of any higher institution of learning till date.
He said that at the time Lar, as governor, gave other parts of the state institutions of higher learning, Langtang had no commissioner to represent it and so did not benefit alongside with others.
“He kept telling us to be patient, while he was pleasing others; he only left us with a legacy of patience,” he said.
Gov. Jonah Jang, represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Shedrack Best, described Lar’s death as a loss to the state.
