Upon his return to Nigeria after a visit to China in 1979, “Uncle Tai” as he was fondly called by close relatives took on the culture of donning himself in public school uniform of Khaki shorts and short- sleeved shirt and sneaker shoes forsaking our Niger “aso-ebi” as a protest against the government’s negligence in providing every Nigerian child with free and basic education like he saw the Chinese government do.
Taiwo Augustus Solarin born in Ikenne-Remo Ogun state on 20 August 1922, the eldest of a set of twin and the only son of Daniel Solarin a renowned Palm-wine tapper, drummer and farmer and Rebecca Okufule Solarin. He had his basic education in both Ogun and Osun state, he then enrolled at Wesley college in Oyo state for his Higher Elementary (Grade Two) Teacher’s Certificate between 1933 and 1936.
Uncle Tai became a nonconformist and a core atheist in 1936 because according to him, the “El-Shaddai” did not grant his request for divine favour by posting him to the city(Lagos) after he completed his studies at the college of education.
In
May 1942, Uncle
Tai
became
a military volunteer in the British
Royal Air Force in
England during the World
War II
where
he was trained to become a navigator. At
the end of the war in 1945, he
sought admission at the University
of Manchester, was
admitted in
1946, in 1949 he
bagged
a
Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Geography.
Uncle Tai finally relocated to Nigeria in 1951 after he wedded his beautiful British bride Sheila Mary Tuer. He was appointed as principal of Molusi College Ijebu-Igbo in 1952, being a diehard advocate for free education as a power of liberation and human development this appointment was a wonderful milestone.
His chant "I don't believe in God. All I know is that you are my gods and goddesses. I will serve mankind till the day I drop dead’’ tailored his decision making process as principal and got him into trouble with the governing council of the College, when he quashed the tradition of starting each school day with hymns and prayers and taking the students to church on Sundays, he also confiscated copies of “songs of praise” hymnal used by the students, this led to the students composing their own anthem whose central theme reflected around humanity relying on hard work rather than on God. The problem he had with the governing council led to his resignation in 1955.
With as little as seven shillings and six pence from his mother and his little savings, he went ahead to start Mayflower College in Ikenne, Ogun State on January 27, 1956.
You
know, uncle
Tai was a man with so many many feathered
caps
on, while
serving as principal at Mayflower he
consistently wrote for two national newspapers namely; Nigerian
Tribune and the Daily Times, he was a columnist who
relentlessly pointed out the wrong and
corrupt deeds
of the Nigerian military government and the church. He
was regularly found on the podiums of schools and colleges speaking
and educating anyone who cared to listen that education was the
panacea for the darkness in the hearts of men.
In his life time, he was unapologetically a social critic who got arrested severally by the military generalissimos for his antagonistic acts towards the government of day. Twice in the Gowon’s administration he was arrested for 48 hours after he verbally attacked General Yakubu Gowon who had an unsparing state-sponsored wedding ceremony at the climax of the Nigerian/Biafran civil war in 1969. Yet again he was arrested in his home and imprisoned for 32 in 1974 when he engaged in a solo protest on Lagos-Ibadan express-way distributing flyers to every pedestrian and vehicle plying the road because the military giant reneged on his promise to return power to a civilian authority. It was at this point that Amnesty International declared Uncle Tai “a prisoner of conscience.”
He was arrested and imprisoned at the Abeokuta Prisons during the Buhari-Idiagbon regime for 18 months for “acts of prejudice to state security”.
He was made the first chairman of the Peoples Bank in 1989, a post which he held until death.
Uncle Tai was said to have slumped in his house and “dropped dead” (as he had always declared to all who cared to listen) on the 27th of July 1994, few days after his historic walk to mark Professor Wole Soyinka’s 60th birthday and also call for the realization of the June 12 presidential election mandate.
Tai Solarin college of education in Ogun state, was named after him as a memorial to celebrate him for his impact in the education of the Nigerian child, his service towards humanity especially during the Nigerian civil war, when he tirelessly provided shelter and fed displaced victims of the war.
REFRENCE:
zodml.org/discover-nigeria/people/tai-solarin
Tai Solarin: Life and Achievement
The secular web
Comments
Weldon ma'am... More grace!