Osofisan, other urge Nigerians to emulate Tai Solarin
By Gbenga Olorunsiwa And Olawunmi Ojo
"LIVES of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime and departing, leave behind us, footsteps on the sand of time".This statement by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an English Romantic poet of the 19th century captures speech delivered yesterday by Professor Femi Osofisan, the manager, National Theatre at the Tai Solarin First Annual National Memorial Lecture Titled: "The Individual And The Challenges Of Economic Commitment" the lecture was to mark the 10th Anniversary of Tai Solarin's Transition to Immortality as eminent personalities, bankers, students, traders and people from all walks of lives gathered at the prestigious Bankers House,Victoria Island,Lagos, to honour the late social critics.
The lecture, organised by Tai Solarin Organisation, was according to its chairman Mr. Akinbayo Adenubi, inspired by similar events organised in the last one or two years, one of which was the memorial lecture organised in honour of the artist, Ben Enwowu.
In his speech, Osofisan described the late Solarin as a true Nigerian who stood for honesty, justice and other humanitarian values, maintaining that was why the late social critic was singled out for when he (the post of public Complaints Commissioner for the whole of Western State in Nigeria.
"Official corruption was of course- you all remember- one of the ills that Tai fought passionately against, and on that front, perhaps the most memorable opportunity for him to actually lead a war against it came in 1976, when he was offered the post of public Complaints Commission, a kind of official Ombudsman, for the whole of the then Western State Of Nigeria".
"You will recall that Tai was not the only one to be so appointed. Similar appointments were made for other states in the federation. But who remembers now the names of other appointees or one single action that they took Yet even when the precise details have faded from memory, Tai's fiery battles in the assignment remain in our minds like items of immemorial myth"
"According to Osofisan, Solarin refused to play to the gallery of corruption, but "became an avid hunter of the rogues in power. In the full glare of the public, he exposed the cupidity of those supposed to be serving us, but who were busy stuffing their own pockets instead"
However, Osofisan lamented, Tai's disposition was too uncomfortable for the corrupt power and so he was conspired against and was eventually relieved of his post.
He urged Nigerians to emulate the virtues of Solarin insisting that if that becomes the habit of everyone, the country would definitely to change for the better.
" Nobody anywhere will change the society for us, except we ourselves. But there should be no despair, because already the Creator endowed us with all the tools we require, namely intelligence and wit, courage and compassion. Tai possessed all these qualities in abundance, and was always ready to invest them in the quest for the communal good."
Professor Alele Williams, the chairperson of the event, described Solarin as a dedicated Nigerian who all his live strived for a better society and virtues that were Godly. She described him as a nationalist and undefatigable anti-corruption crusader who believed in good governance.
The former University of Benin Vice Chancellor noted that though Solarin was a self-proclaimed atheist, she classed Solarin a Christian "and that he affirmed the Christian Faith in its totality". Ironically, she said many who claim to be Christians do not display stand for the principles of Christ.
"I feel sad to confess that many persons who profess Christianity cannot claim to carry out the injunctions of Christ which is to love God and to love our fellow men as we love ourselves .Tai Solarin loved his fellow men but he was not a Christian"
The eighty-year-old wife of the late sage, Mrs. Sheila Solarin, enjoined everyone to be his brother's keeper.
"I plead that everyone be courageous. If you see that something is wrong, stand up and do something. One life is as important as the rest. One man can do something"
Also present at the lecture were former information minister, Prince Tony Momoh, Chief Ebenezer Akinbolade, commissioner for Establishment and Training who represented the Lagos state governor, Bola Tinubu, , Chief Ebenezer Akinbolade, assistant professor of Education, southern Illinois University, united States of America, Professor Michael Afolayan, students of Mayflower, Ikenne and several others.
