STRIKE: NANS IS IGNORANT OF THE PROBLEM-ASUU

STRIKE: NANS IS IGNORANT OF THE PROBLEM-ASUU The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said at the weekend that the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS), which has been condemning it over the strike is ignorant of the situation.

Chairman, Kogi State University branch of ASUU, Sylvester Ukwuteno said this during a protest by the union over the failure of the governor to honour the 2009 agreement.
“We want people to know that the Federal Government is deceiving Nigerians and that ASUU will not go back to the classroom until public universities across the country are revitalized. NANS members are talking based on ignorance because the strike is not just about welfare. We are poor people like other Nigerians who do not have money to send their children to private universities, but infrastructure in public schools are dilapidated. We have resolved that until our agreement is honoured, the strike would not be called off. We have to fight now to save the future of children of the poor,” he said.
He added: “It is better to delay the system than to allow public education system in the country to collapse. We believe posterity will not forgive us if we fail to act now. Agreement is a covenant that must be honoured”
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LAR WAS A GREAT ASSET TO NIGERIA – KANO KINGMAKER

LAR WAS A GREAT ASSET TO NIGERIA – KANO KINGMAKER

District Head of Dambatta in Kano State, Alhaji Mukhtar Adnan yesterday extolled the late Chief Solomon Daushep Lar who died in the US on Wednesday, describing him as a great asset to the country.

The elder statesman in an interview yesterday said Nigeria needs more people like Lar who spent his life promoting unity in the country.
“We need patriotic persons like him. Lar was an asset to Nigeria; he was more at home in northern attire. He was a true northerner, a true Nigerian who spent his life promoting the unity of the country. His death was not a loss to the people of Plateau State alone but to the entire country,” he said.
Recalling how he first met Solomon Lar, the district head who is one of the kingmakers in Kano State said he met Lar at a railway station in Kaduna in the 60s.
“We met at a railway station in Kaduna south in the 60s. We were all travelling to Lagos but when Lar arrived at the railway station, there was no first class ticket, so I accommodated him. He entered and we travelled together with him and my wife. From then, our relationship blossomed as we became very close,” the 87-year-old kingmaker said.

Insects, Wall Geckos, My Only Roommates In Prison — Al-Mustapha

The former chief security officer (CSO) to the late head of state General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, has given a graphic and shocking narrative of his prison sojourn between 1998 and 2013.

Al-Mustapha, who was initially arrested for coup plotting, was later charged to court for both coup plotting and the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola.

Al-Mustapha, in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP Friday, said he is thankful to God for saving his life and to Nigerians for their show of love and prayers.

The ex-CSO said he was subjected to unimaginable trauma for actions he took and which were also in the interest of the nation at the time. He added that he was initially kept in solitary confinement for five years and two months without trial, where separate and strange prison laws were made for him from Abuja as against the privileges enjoyed by even convicted criminals in the prison.

He denied insinuations that he ever abused his power as a CSO to the head of state by subjecting fellow soldiers and civilians alike to untold hardship by way of torture.

On what will be his next moves, he said he is committed to a united Nigeria, hence his visits to different people from different political affiliations. His recent tour of some parts of the country, he said, was part of his plans for youth empowerment across the country in order to solve the menace of unemployment.

The full interview below 

The former chief security officer (CSO) to the late head of state General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, betrayed the toga of a mean and dreaded officer when this reporter was ushered into his office. Like a gentleman officer, he stood up from his chair to exchange pleasantries, after which he opened up on some of the myths that surround him, in this exclusive interview with BODE GBADEBO. Excerpts:  

There are lots of myths around you. If I may ask, who really is Major Hamza Al-Mustapha?

Very simple human being and a Nigerian who is bound by his faith and culture. My growing up was challenging and we faced all aspects of life thus far with faith, zeal and hope, with trust and confidence in God Almighty fundamentally.

There were negative reports about your role under the late General Sani Abacha. What was your duty supposed to be as a chief security officer to the head of state?

I have said this time without number. I have one of the best opportunities I have had to speak having been denied the opportunity. That was when the God Almighty directed the government to constitute the Oputa Panel. There, I stated it clearly: the duty of the CSO was that of the security of the commander-in-chief, members of his family and then the seat of government.

After your arrest and while you were in detention, you were also tried for a coup attempt from inside the prison by former President Obasanjo’s government. So, what actually happened then?

That was not the first time I was accused of staging a coup. In October 1998, I was arrested in Enugu on one of the allegations that I was staging a coup from Enugu. Here was somebody who just left Abuja, who left the seat of government and who supported the transition to be conducted successfully. Details of what happened during that transition are an issue that will come up in due course, when I will be putting some of my data together for the general public.

At Enugu, after about a month and two weeks, I was framed and arrested for coup. That was the first time and Nigerians were told all sorts of things just to spoil my name and integrity. Also in the process of my solitary detention underground, I was then accused yet again of staging another coup alone; and then the third one was on March 29, 2004, in Kirikiri. I was accused of staging another coup. So, I was accused three times while still in prison with the highest restrictions, with laws that are different from prison laws, all put upon me in terms of monitoring my visitors, in terms of having pictures of my visitors. Nobody submitted pictures to see anybody in any of our prisons; it was only me out of 50,000 inmates across the country.

So, the prison laws were different; they created new laws from here in Abuja during General Obasanjo’s government and put them upon me and my family. I was restricted to only five visitors a day as against the worst armed robber, who is convicted, who has the latitude to see as many as time permits but a serving officer, framed, kept in detention, and yet I was restricted to only five visitors and even the five it was whenever they feel like and you must come with two passport photographs. Initially it was four passport-size photographs and I complained and my lawyers also complained that it was strange.

And when they realised that my lawyers were fighting over it, they now reduced the copies to two. Let me give you an example: if now you come to visit me at the visiting time, like 11 o’clock, you have to make photocopies of my legal documents and if you are coming back to see me, you have to re-apply and bring new passport-size photographs again for the new application -- your address, your telephone number, your contact number. You will still be re-interrogated for you to have access to me and, even when you do, it is a restricted

Discussion; you can’t talk anything confidential. The same thing to my family, the same thing to my lawyers. So, it was a very painful time under tight restriction, strange to what is even obtainable in the prison. Yet I was accused of trying to remove the government. And then the allegation said that from the football field of the prison, that was where I was to fire missiles at Obasanjo’s helicopter; and, as soon as I fired it, I would now come and take over the government. Even if this was a cartoon made for children, I don’t think it can sell to the children. The idea was very shallow and narrow and the court threw it away. The judge’s ruling said, this is a case before a court of law that is very strange.

First of all, no witnesses and the ones they brought were hand-picked round. The witnesses like the first and the last witnesses they brought to the court, when they were subjected to cross-examinations, at the end of the day they didn’t even know what they were saying. One of them said, “I didn’t know about it. I was only called yesterday and told to adopt the statement I wrote the previous day and defend them in court.” They said okay, who asked him to do so? He said he couldn’t mention the name of the person but he was asked to do so. We have the record of the proceedings of the court, we have it.

That was the coup, unprecedented, that somebody wrote a script and the entire world was misinformed and they looked at me from that point of view and because of this also, I was subjected to trauma. You will be shocked at what I went through -- hanging, deprivation of sleep as means of torture, deprivations of food, medication, access to family, access to lawyers, access to any human being at all, kept underground, no bath, no brushing, no shaving and nobody to talk to. I have only God Almighty with me and then insects, wall geckos and dirty environment. At any time when somebody came to see me, they were either one thing: giving me food -- a handful of garri, a cup of water in a day if they like. No sunlight, total darkness and even the provision for me as a Muslim to pray, I was chained hands and legs. There was a time when they even chained my hands to my legs.

So if as a Muslim I want to pray, you can understand the condition. And I used to perform dry ablution called Taymamah in Islam. I used to rub my hands on the wall and prayed. God saw my condition. I had no wristwatch, no calendar to know the time for me to pray, even after I begged for it as a Muslim and I was using that to observe fasting. Many things like that but I would not say much about what I went through until the matter is properly disposed of, because I don’t want to be prejudicial about the trial. But this is just a tiny picture of what I went through in prison.

What they used to do was, having deprived me of food for like two days and on the third day they realised that I was totally weak, they would come in with bread. On the floor of my cell was a smelly mud, so I used to hide in a corner which was the only point that was a bit dry because I used my legs to push the mud back. They used to carry dirty and smelly potopoto in buckets and pour it on the whole floor and, before they put me there, they would have to prepare the cell for me. The floor was rocky and became undulated. So, you can’t just lie down on it -- no mat, nothing, just a sleeveless top and a trouser for years.

Talking about the bread, you know at that time anything would look eatable to you because of the deprivation. What they do was to break the bread into pieces on the smelly mud, march it before giving me. They would bring water in tiny nylon and pierce it to drip for me to drink. I had fire burns all over my body and nobody to help except God Almighty.

 

 The story about you is that of a mean officer -- wicked and fond of torturing people...

I have never, as an officer with all the privileges I have had, not even when I became the CSO to General Abacha. First, I have never served in a non-sensitive place throughout my career and I thank God Almighty for the opportunity. In each place, I had never charged any soldier or officer, I never did, with all the powers I have had. And I didn’t keep any person in the guardroom. I don’t believe in that. So, I have never tortured anybody. Remember, I said before Oputa Panel that I had to koboko Pastor Ogboru. Do you know why I did it? That was the only way to save his life. He was arrested from the border and brought in at the peak of the disaster of Orkar coup that time.

Soldiers who lost their families, their children now became angry and were looking for any person who was linked to the coup to devour him because what most of those who participated in that coup did was to have acted under the influence of drugs. Some of them took it for the first time in their lives. So, they were busy shooting guns all over and these were our colleagues. So, when Ogboru was now arrested at the border and brought to us, I was coordinating a security group at that time in Apapa. When they brought him, soldiers lost their control. The same person that gave drugs to the coupists was Turner Ogboru. He is a pastor now, he is my friend, he was even telling the whole world that I didn’t ask anybody to koboko him but it’s not true. I was the one that said they should koboko him and, having koboko him, I said it was okay and brought him to my side. That gave me the grace to ask the soldiers to go, that I would take care. So, that was how he was saved; he could have been lynched.

Even Gideon Orkar, do you know how long it took to save Orkar’s life? Soldiers brought their knives because of the casualties recorded in Bonny Camp, Ikeja Cantonment, Ojo and Apapa cantonments. Everybody had run away that time; we were the only few who stood there and took the risk with General Abacha and General Zidon, who was a lieutenant-colonel and commander at that time, to just bring back sanity. There was total chaos and the bloodbath could have escalated because nobody knew what to do, nobody knew how to contain what. No direction, nothing.

The rest is an issue for tomorrow. So, I don’t keep soldiers in guardrooms because, to me, keeping a soldier in a guardroom, you are only promoting two things: one, you are promoting the soldier to just go sit there and gossip; secondly, he will sit under mosquitoes and, before you know it, he is sick and you will have to take care of him. So, my personal doctrine is to subject a soldier back to training wing as a punishment. If he commits any offence, send him to training wing to enhance his professional competence. That’s how I punish a soldier, if you call it punishment.

If you charge any soldier or an officer, that soldier or officer has a family, you are ruining his career and, if you continue like that, he may be eased out; the soldier and his family may have nothing to fall back on. At the end of the day, if nobody cares and he sees any opportunity that is against the law, he might use it to just survive for himself and the family. So, the question here is: is it this officer, who has eased him out of service that is the social problem to the country and not the officer? So, we have to think far ahead while taking administrative decisions. I challenge you to check whether I have charged any officer or soldier before. I have never done so.

What about the case of General Diya and others?

Give me time, you will see all the tapes of that coup attempt. All the video tapes and all they said on their own. If that is what you want, you will see all the video sessions.

There were countries, which, as at that time, came consulting me as to how I was able to have captured a coup from conception through to the stages of its preparations up to execution point. European countries came to Abuja here to find out how I was able to do it. They were ready to learn from us and I also know so many security companies who came. I got an offer from France to relocate there after the death of General Abacha.

With that offer I was to carry seven people along with me and the government would take care of them under security. No, I couldn’t, I can’t stay there. The only condition given to me was that I was to learn French as a participant in most of the francophone internal security problem management. That was the offer made to me. I thanked them and I remained in Nigeria only to face what I faced.

ASUU STRIKE: FG Fights Back

As the ongoing strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, enters the fourth month, there are strong indications that the Federal Government has commenced the implementation of the “No Work, No Pay” rule.

It was gathered from a reliable source at the National Universities Commission, NUC, that the government has passed a directive to the various universities governing councils to stop payment of salaries of the striking lecturers.

The ASUU Zonal Chairman in Abuja, Mr Clement Chup confirmed this yesterday after a zonal conference of ASUU, University of Abuja chapter, which took place at the Gwagwalada campus to review the nationwide strike.

He said his colleagues were yet to receive their September salaries.

2015: PDP Chieftain Moves To Stop Jonathan

A member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Comrade Richard Tersoo Mnenga has dragged President Goodluck Jonathan, his party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to a Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna asking the court to stop President Jonathan from contesting the 2015 election.

 The PDP member alongside Alh. Shuibu Lilli in the suit. No: FHC/KD/CS/87/2013 are also asking the court for an order of injunction restraining the PDP from presenting President Jonathan as it Presidential candidate in the 2015 presidential election.

 The Plaintiffs in their originating summons are also praying the court to restrain INEC from accepting any nomination of president Jonathan by the PDP as its Presidential candidate in the 2015 presidential election.

The plantiffs are also asking the court to determine whether in the light of the provisions of sections 135, 142 and 146 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, President Jonathan had completed his first tenure in office as President in 2011 starting from 29th May, 2007.

 “We want the court to determine whether Jonathan is entitled to tenure of office as President exceeding eight years, calculated fron 2007,” the plaintiffs said.

 LEADERSHIP Friday gathered that the decision of the plaintiffs was as a result of the recent President Jonathan’s declaration that he was eligible to run for reelection in the 2015 presidential election.

How To Increase Your Woman's Sexual Desire

It has been said over and over that most women don’t desire sex as frequently as men do. This is largely due to the physiological makeup of the female being.

While a man is aroused by the mere sight of the nakedness or writhing of a female body, a woman will have to be tuned up through sweet talks, body touches, or appreciative comments about her looks for her to feel like having sex. This difference is what has made sexual intimacy among couples a mirage for most married men.

This is also a source of concern for most women since their husbands look impossible with reference to sexual demands on their wives. Thus, most women feel that their husbands are just inconsiderate human beings who behave selfishly in their sexual demands. To them, all that a man thinks of is sex all of the time.

However, over the years, it has been discovered that the frequency of sexual desire of women can be increased with the support from, or deliberate effort of their husbands. How this is achieved is the subject of this discuss.  If a man desires his wife to frequent the bedroom with him, he may need to do more to help his wife become sex hungry. In most cases, most married women’s attitude towards sex is a reflection of their husbands’ treatment. So, every husband who wants to increase his wife’s sexual desire must learn to do the following:

Stay close to her
Move closer to your wife by spending more time with her and sharing your deep thoughts with her. Closeness to her demands carrying her along in your dealings, daily schedules, fears, aspirations, and concerns. The frequency of such time spent together will also enhance the chances of sexual intercourse between the couple, since one thing may lead to another. Such time spent together should not just be only to discuss your feelings with her, it should also be to listen to her own stories or things she wants to discuss with you. By nature, a woman wants to be listened to. So, you should allow her to pour out her mind. When you do this, it is a major signal of your love for her. Many husbands do not realise that such time spent with their wives is actually an opportunity to secure sex from her.

Show more care and concern
Be more caring by showing great and active interest in things that interest her in the areas of her career, hobbies, health, and parental issues. It soars your credentials with her when you concern yourself with such affairs of her life. It makes her feel great about you and prepares her emotionally to be with you in bed.

Adore her 
Make her feel she is the most important person in your life. In fact, do everything to make her feel that you can’t live without her. Husbands need to learn the art of adoring their wives. This will secure great sex from any woman. To adore her means holding her in high esteem and verbalising it to her; be all over her wherever you are as a sign that you enjoy being with her. Without being boring or monitoring her, keep in touch with her regularly through the phone especially when you are away from each other due to work schedule, and social functions. This should not be difficult since most men do that while wooing their wives for marriage.

Learn the art of lovemaking 
Learn the art of lovemaking with reference to foreplay, coitus, afterglow treatment and so forth. In my counselling experience, I have discovered that most couples, especially the religious ones, do not have good knowledge of sexual relationship. No thanks to the many religious houses, who do not prepare them ahead for sex in marriage. Many of us thus enter into marriage to learn by trial and error, and in an attempt not to be seen as being promiscuous, we shy away from discussing our sexual satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our spouse, preferring to suffer in silence. Unfortunately, it is the wife that suffers the most since she is the one who is left sexually unfulfilled most of the time by the inexperienced husband. No wonder she feigns tiredness, headaches and stomach upset most of the time for her to avoid miserable times spent in bed with her husband.

It beats my imagination why a wife will feign all manner of ailments to avoid the beauty of sex, if she has discovered its sweetness. Or do you think ants can smell honey, and not be drawn to it? That is what sex is if properly handled by couples; you cannot run away from such a wonderful experience called sex in marriage.

A man must therefore learn the art of lovemaking if he will secure frequent great sex acts from his wife. He must spend time and money on literatures and seminars to discover how to make his wife desire sex regularly from him. There is nothing you need to know that somebody has not known already. I bet it with you, it will be worth the effort at the end of the day. When your wife is sexually satisfied, she will be ever ready to do it with you over and over as you learn to treat her the right ways in your marriage.

Be sensitive to her moods and sexual advances 
You just have to learn to play along with her games for sexual enjoyment. Be ready to be there for her when she needs you sexually. Don’t make her feel used during sexual acts. Rather, you should help her attain high level of sexual intercourse by yielding to her requests with reference to how you hold, touch, and enter into her during sexual acts. This will go a long way to making her look forward to another sexual moment with you.

Understand and use her love key
Love keys as the things that make your wife feel most loved, and which, if absent in your relationship with her, makes her feel bad and make her non responsive to your frequent sexual demands. Of course, the same goes for you as a person; every one of us has what makes us feel loved and turns us on sexually when we are treated to those things.

Give her full attention during sexual intercourse 
This makes a woman to want to be with a man over and over. You are not just enjoying yourself; you are also making her to enjoy herself as well. Thus, being with her spirit, soul and body at the moment of sexual acts matters to her. You should avoid picking your calls in the middle of sexual acts. To avoid minimal distractions during sexual intercourse, couples should learn to put their phone in silence or switch it off completely. Also, couples should not rush into sexual intercourse, except when you are doing a ‘quickee’, and it is better enjoyed and more pleasurable, when it is at the instance of the wife. At that moment, she is ready and emotionally prepared for the husband and I can assure you that it will be a grea pleasurable experience for you, since you are ever ready as a man. My husband does not allow such opportunities to be wasted.

Make sex a free discussion between you 

Solomon Lar Dies At 80

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Second Republic governor of old Plateau State and first national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Solomon Daushep Lar breathed his last yesterday in the United States. Lar, aged 80, reportedly died about 3pm American time (8:00 pm Nigerian time). Though details of the cause of his death were still sketchy at press time,  a family source confided in LEADERSHIP that he had been battling with diabetes for a long time.

A source said Lar died in his home in Maryland, while another said he passed on in an undisclosed private hospital in the US.

There was anxiety on Monday over his health, as it was confirmed that he was on life support in a hospital in the US.

A family member who did not want his name in print told LEADERSHIP in Jos on phone that “Baba” finally gave up the ghost yesterday afternoon in Washington, US.

Confirming the passing on of the elder statesman, Plateau State governor Jonah Jang stated that he was informed of Lar’s death through his family.

“The family informed me of his death and I feel duty-bound to inform the good people of the state,” Jang said during a courtesy visit by the new speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. Titus Ayuba Alams, at Jishe Government Lodge in Jos.

Beni Lar devasted

The daughter of the deceased and member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Beni Lar said she was devastated by the news of her father’s death.

A relative who answered her phone told LEADERSHIP last night  “the lawmaker is too devastated to speak now . She will be speaking over the issue shortly”.

Beni Lar, who had earlier in the day led the House Committee on Human Rights which she chairs to the National Refugee Commission at the Federal Secretariat for an oversight function, had to hurriedly leave the National Assembly Complex when the news filtered to her.

Efforts to reach her on phone were unfruitful as her personal assistant who was taking her calls explained that “she couldn’t take any calls for now”.

Nigeria’ll remember Lar as a great hero of democracy – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has stated that he received with sadness the passing on of the former governor of old Plateau State and founding chairman of the PDP.

In a statement by his spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, Jonathan said that the late Lar would be remembered as a great hero of democracy.

The president also condoled with the Lar family, Governor Jonah Jang, the people of Plateau State, the people of the middle belt and all others for whom the late Lar was a much-beloved, charismatic and inspirational political leader.

The statement reads in part: “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.

“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 stabilize.

Lar was a builder par excellence - Mark

 President of the Senate David Mark  has expressed regret over  the demise of the foremost political leader,  describing him as a rare Nigerian who propagated  the tenet of democracy and lived to see the actualisation of the people’s will.

 Reacting to the news of the passing unto glory of the elder statesman, Mark noted that the late Lar would be remembered for fighting for democracy and enthronement of the people’s mandate against all odds.

 He recalled that it was Lar who led the group of G-34 which later metamorphosed into today’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that has sustained the democratic rule all Nigerians now enjoy.

 Mark said: “We owe him a great deal of gratitude. He surely has a place of pride in the political history of Nigeria. Lar was a different kind of leader. He put the people and the nation first before self.

He was an elder statesman - Tambuwal

Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has expressed immense sadness over the passing on of Chief Lar, whom he described as an elder statesman par excellence.

In a press statement signed by his special assistant on media, Malam Imam Imam, and made available to LEADERSHIP last night, Tambuwal also added that he received the news with a feeling of great national loss and would always remember him as a man of integrity whose forthrightness and wisdom stood him out among his peers.

He added that the late former Plateau governor lived a fulfilled life full of accomplishments and notable contributions to national unity.

Lar, accomplished politician – ACF

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has described the late Chief Solomon Lar as an accomplished politician of repute, saying that the country has lost a champion of the masses.

Speaking in a statement made available yesterday by its spokesman, Anthony Sani , the ACF  stated that the late Lar passed on at a time his fatherly advice would be needed over national issues.

The statement reads in part, “Lar was the spirit and face of his people and gave all his life to them. Many Nigerians would pass him for someone who struggled for the rights of his people with courage and in hope.

“Considering what he stood and died for, one can imagine his body lying in both peace and pain: the peace associated with death and the pain of what he has left behind: a divided people in endless blame game and engagement of the past at the expense of how to move the nation forward.

“Chief Lar may not be any more with us because no one can fill the void he has left behind in the life of the nation and lives of loved ones.  But in a way, he is very much around, considering he needs no monuments to remind us of his legacies.

Northern govs mourn, say Nigeria has lost a patriot

The Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) has 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 Niger State governor Babangida Aliyu said with the death of  Lar, Nigeria has lost a patriot of uncommon courage.

The Forum’s condolence was contained in a statement signed by Governor Aliyu’s spokesman, Danladi Ndayebo.

The Forum added that  Lar was a recurrent decimal in the nation’s polity for over five decades, either as a legal practitioner, member of the nation’s first national parliament, state governor, first national chairman of the PDP or an elder statesman.

The statement described the late Lar as a nationalist who lived a purposeful life of dedication to the cause of the nation’s unity and dedication as well as commitment to the uplift of the citizenry.

 Lar, a titan of democracy - Anenih

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, has described the death of Lar, as a great loss to both the party and the nation.

Anenih, who started this yesterday while reacting to the news of Lar’s passage said,  “This is indeed sad and very painful. Chief Lar was a great leader and pillar of our Party.  He was a titan of democracy whose leadership and invaluable advice will be missed by the PDP family, especially at this time when efforts are being made at genuine reconciliation.”

Declaring that the elder statesman would be sorely missed by the PDP and the nation, Anenih sympathized with the wife of Chief Lar and family members and prayed that the Almighty God would  grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

 Nigeria has lost a great statesman - Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar last night reacted to the death of pioneer chairman of the PDP, Chief Solomon Lar, describing his demise as the loss of one of the country’s greatest statesmen.

Atiku, who stated in a statement by his media office, said,  “He 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 added that the late Lar’s “fight for his middle-belt region in particular and Nigerians in general will be remembered by every worthy historian of this era.”

 We’ve lost finest political Figure - Ekweremadu

The deputy president of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, expressed shock and sadness over the death of  Chief 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.”

He condoled with the government and people of Plateau State and the nation and  prayed for the peaceful repose of the soul of the dead.

He was a quintessential patriot - PDP

The PDP has expressed deep sadness over the death of its pioneer national chairman, the late Chief Solomon Lar, describing the development as a huge loss to the nation.

 The PDP national publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement said the death of the politician has “left a big vacuum not only in the party but in Plateau State and the nation at large”.

The party said, “Our hearts reach out to the government and people of Plateau State, the millions of PDP family nationwide, but most importantly to his loved ones and immediate family.

“Chief Lar will be remembered for his insistence on the emancipation of the masses and his white handkerchief. That is why he was fondly called ‘The Emancipator’. PDP members will not forget the image of Chief Lar on the podium with his white handkerchief singing and dancing to the PDP song,” the statement further. “PDP at the national level will participate fully in ensuring that Chief Lar is given an equivalent of a party national burial.”

We have lost a rare gem - new PDP

The Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led PDP yesterday described the death of Chief  Lar as an irreparable loss,  saying he was a first-class patriot.

A statement by the party’s spokesman, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said “Chief Lar was 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.

 “Chief Lar’s death, coming on the heels of that of another of our former leader, Dr Olusegun Agagu, has robbed both our great party and the country at large of a rare voice of wisdom.

Gen. Useni mourns

The former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, General Jeremiah Useni, has stated that the demise of Chief Solomon Lar was a great loss to the country, saying that Nigerians would miss his wise counsel.

He added that the contribution of Lar to the enthronement of Nigeria democracy would never be forgotten in a hurry.

His death a great loss - Prof Alkali

A former national publicity secretary of the PDP,  Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, has expressed deep shock over Lar’s death. According to him, “Nigeria has once again lost a deeply committed leader, elder and fearless democrat. May God grant his family the strength and courage to bear this huge loss with fortitude.

We’ll miss his fatherly advice – Gov Suswam

Benue State governor  Gabriel Suswam has stated that the late Chief Solomon Lar was a political icon, adding that the political class will surely miss his fatherly advice.

He said, “ It’s a sad death for a man who lived and died serving Nigeria. Benue

State and the people of Benue will miss his fatherly advice. My condolence goes to the Lar family, the government and people of Plateau State and the entire Middle Belt.

Death of Lar a big blow to democracy - Amosun

Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has described the demise of Lar, as a big blow to democracy.

In a statement signed by his Senior special assistant on media, Mrs Funmi Wakama, Amosun described the late Lar as an icon of democracy, whose contributions to the enthronement of civil rule would remain indelible in the annals of Nigeria. 

He said, “As civilian governor of Plateau State, Chief Solomon Lar brought development to the nooks and crannies of the state. He was a thoroughbred democrat, detribalized Nigerian and a firm believer in the rule of law, justice and equity.”

He was a man of impeachable character – Ogbulafor

 A former national chairman of the PDP, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, described his predecessor as a man of impeachable character.

He said, “Chief  Lar was one of the founders of the party. Nigeria has lost a great man who left his footsteps in the sands of time. We will surely miss him. May his soul rest in peace.”

He was a political iroko – Nwodo

Another former national chairman of PDP, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, described the late Lar as an astute politician of repute, saying that his demise was a great loss to the country. He said, “The news of Chief Solomon Lar’s death, the first national chairman of PDP, reached me as a shock. In his death, Nigeria has lost another political iroko, the real bridge builder whose political space was large enough to accommodate all irrespective of tribe, religion or region. He loved his country and would take any risk for its peace and unity. May his soul rest in peace.”