HOW MANY OF US REMEMBER THE LATE DR. TAI SOLARIN?

DR. TAI SOLARIN

THE LATE DR. TAI SOLARIN:

1. Who during the Nigerian civil war, visited Biafra and stopped eating for weeks (and almost died) after seeing malnourished  children on the war front. I was very young at the time but my mother showed me a Daily Times picture of him looking very emaciated like he was about to die.


2. In protest against poverty in Nigeria, decided not to own more than 2 shirts and 2 shorts.

3. Owned a sitting room that is the most sparsely decorated one I have ever seen in life. (Just a couple of seats and table but with no decorations).

3. Picked dead bodies on the streets of Nigeria in the 70s and 80s and gave them befitting private burials because at that time, it was common to see dead bodies on the roads.

4. Resigned as Public Complaints commissioner in Western region (now Oyo state), just because a Police man (who didn't know it was him) stopped and asked for his driving license, which he was not carrying at the time.

5. Adopted young children and gave scholarships to orphans and victims of war at his Mayflower school in Ikenne. Many of them are now world renowned experts in Nigeria, US, UK and around the world.

6. Refused salaries and allowances and never engaged in ANY business on National assignments and appointments.

7. Boasted about sleeping and snoring at People's Bank board meetings (as Chairman) because the Directors spent valuable time arguing about salaries and allowances for themselves. lol!

I ( Bimbo Roberts Folayan ) was privileged and blessed to honour him before he died when the company I formed with my friend Ayo 'Goldstar Advanced Summit' (GAS), promoted the publication and launching of his Biography at the Institute of International Affairs.  The famous journalist, Tunde Thompson was MC. The book was written by our Lecturer (when we were in the University), Prof Aladejana but we eventually became the sponsors and Financiers a few years after graduation. lol. I visited Tai's sparsely furnished house in Ikenne, Ogun state, Nigeria a few times with Ayo and his Anaconda almost escaped from its pit on one of the visits.

The 'strange man' refused to collect a penny from the proceeds of the book launch, saying: 'all the money belong to you guys' whereas the monies  were donated by important dignitaries because of him.  He even refused to look at the figures on the cheques whereas he was required to sign all the cheques before they could be paid. When we asked him why, he said, I don't care how much is on the cheques and trust you guys.

He offered us accomodation on one of the visits and tried to tempt us to stay in the boys hostel on one of the nights by saying ' the boys are eating beans tonight' lol. We refused the offer and elected to stay in a cool hotel instead. Every time I remember him, I remember the saying 'vanity upon vanity...'.

Most of the youths of today, don't know that Nigeria used to have great statesmen and heroes like Tai. He was simply an international icon that Nigeria should be proud of. The youths are now used to ego driven, power hungry and money chasing 'leaders'  who add no real value to the environment. lol.