Corin, the daughter of the late Tai Solarin, tells ARUKAINO UMUKORO about her father’s legacy
Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Corin Solarin. I am one of the two children of the late Dr. Tai Solarin and Sheila Solarin of Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ogun State.
Can you share some of the fond memories of your childhood with your father?
This Sunday, July 27 would mark the 20th anniversary of his passing, as well as the second anniversary of Mama (Sheila Solarin)’s death. I have so many fond memories of Papa. But his integrity, uniqueness and vision I will always remember. Up till today, things that he did and planned and instituted in his writings and life are still current and practical. He was a hundred years ahead of his time. When I was a kid, I remember Papa had a friend who was a leper. I can remember following my father to visit his leper friend, who lived in a bush. Papa would buy provisions for the man and the man’s family and he took me along with him to visit them. Papa had other friends, he had unusual friends. Also, I remember that he was the patron saint to the ogogoro sellers. He went to court on their behalf, Papa protested on their behalf that he didn’t want Johnny Walker, a whiskey from Scotland or England, while people making ogogoro were being chastised and punished for it. He became a celebrity in the world of ogogoro sellers. Another one of our expeditions was to go and visit the Oba (king) of the ogogoro sellers who lived in a very big palace. They received him so warmly. I went with him to places that I probably would never have the opportunity to visit again. I’ve reached as far as Kano. He went to Biafra during the civil war to deliver food and medicine; he brought back some children who he later raised to successful adulthood. There was no corner of Nigeria that Papa did not feel at home in or did not visit. He was a true Nigerian.
What kind of father was he?
He was a wonderful man and a great father. He was a role model. Aside from teaching us good manners, he was an inspiration to be around. He was the best and I will miss him forever. He was a strict disciplinarian. He was gentle, but firm. He insisted on the best behaviour, both from his immediate family and his extended ones. I have memories of going places with Papa. Once in a while, he would take us to Ikoyi Hotels to eat and to teach us how to eat properly at the white man’s table. Papa would take us to the zoo also. But oftentimes, my memory of my father was that he was a workaholic. He worked 20 hours in a day. Papa would sleep by midnight and wake up by 4am. Then he would read the Daily Times when it was still delivered to our house. Papa would sit at the dining table with us his family and he would fall asleep sitting there because he was so tired. He worked hard.
What were the values you learnt from him?
I would say one of the primary values he taught me as a woman was independence. Papa preached independence and integrity. I never knew until almost late in my middle age why people would tell me I was the most independent woman they had ever met. It was later on that I finally connected the dots and understood that it was the upbringing that Papa gave me and the surroundings I was in that nurtured and shaped me into becoming that kind of person. That I think is one of the primary values he put into us. He was also very insistent that the girl child should be independent and educated, because according to him, life could be very uncertain. He himself was raised by his elder sister and he wanted girls, especially, to be independent in case things didn’t work out or they might have unexplained financial burdens. He taught me to think for myself and to be independent, upright and ethical in my dealings with others.
How did he discipline his children when they went wrong?
One of Papa’s sayings was egba o ni ko ku (caning won’t kill you). If he was going to be cane you, he would do it properly for the right reasons and he would train you by so doing. Many people received the results of his correction and have done very well in life. He also disciplined his children the same way. He did not discriminate between his own children and his extended children. He treated all of us the same and he was not biased.
Your dad was a consummate educationist. Did he influence any of his children to follow his footsteps?
Yes, he did, because I have been a teacher all my life and I studied Education. He had a very profound influence on us.
How was his social life like?
Papa was not one to go to parties and a variety of weddings. He went to a few events, but it was not often you would find him at such celebrity gatherings. He would go to family occasions sometimes, but he was not a typical partygoer.
Who were his closest friends?
One of his closest friends was a late former Minister of Education, Professor Babatunde Fafunwa. He had a few close friends. When he went abroad, he became friends with American writer, Alex Haley, who wrote the book, Roots. Somewhere in the archives, we have series of letters from Haley to Papa that talked about their time together. He had a few friends but he was somebody so consumed by his passion for the school, education and humanism in Nigeria that he didn’t spend a lot of time hobnobbing with friends.
Your father established Mayflower School in 1956 and gave it to the government….
(Cuts in) Yes, he gave it to the government. He was one of the proponents of free education and the government running all the schools. He had such high hopes for government and education in Nigeria. So, he gave the school to the government in 1976. Although Papa was still very much involved, the school was run by the government for a long period of time.
Did he tell you how he felt with the government’s handling of the school?
No, he did not. I feel that nobody would care for the child better than his own parents. A step-father would not love a child more than the biological father. That’s a way of looking at it. I think the deterioration of the school is symptomatic with a lot of things going on in Nigeria today. In a lot of areas in the country, there are many people working hard to stem the tide and to change things, but definitely the school is not where it was in its heydays when Papa was directing its affairs.
What’s the current state of the school now?
It’s still in the process of being privatised. At the time that the processing was taking place, there was an election and the state government changed hands. But we have had constant assurances; in fact the commissioner of education came around last week and assured us that Governor Ibikunle Amosun still has the mind to return the school.
How do you think your father would feel about the current state of Nigeria?
I think a lot of people, the likes of (Dr. Nnamdi) Azikiwe, (Chief Obafemi) Awolowo, (Dr. Tai) Solarin and many others had high hopes for the country and expected it to be more developed than it is presently. But there is always room for improvement.
What are some of your father’s favourite quotes?
One of the quotes I remember is the Gennisburg address which was by the late President Abraham Lincoln of the United States. That was what we did recite, but the William Henley song, ‘I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul’ is actually set to music and is in the school’s song book.
Your father was the pioneer chairman of The Peoples Bank established by the regime of General Ibrahim Babaginda(retd.). He was also a critic of the government. How did he feel about taking up the appointment?
I cannot give you a really good answer because I was out of the country during his tenure. I was away for some years. But I think he did his best. Anywhere you put Papa he would do his best to do a good job. I think he did his best within the limitations of what he was allowed to do for as long as he could. As for being a critic of the government, he criticised everybody, but I think that time would vindicate those who are to be vindicated. He took two positions: he was ombudsman, which was like a director of complaints and then he headed The People’s Bank. These are not ministerial or senatorial appointments. He never took anything within the government. The People’s Bank was strictly to benefit the people and the ombudsman was to listen to the complaints of the people. So, his agenda remained unchanged, which was to serve the common man.
What shaped his ideas to fight for the common man?
He was very much self-driven. Nobody impaled him to be looking out for the common man. He just had that empathy and love for the common man; it was part of his character from very early on. I think he was also shaped by his experiences in post Second World War in Europe because he ran into a lot of humanists. I think that social belief he was exposed to in the late 1940s and early 1050s in Europe helped to shape some of his character.
Why did he like to wear his trademark simple khaki shorts and shirt?
That apparently dated back to his trip to China. I cannot remember the exact date because I was in the US at the time. He visited China and was struck by the fact that there was free universal education for all children, possible through primary and secondary. And Papa swore that he would wear khaki shorts and shirts until the day he died, until there was free education in Nigeria. They buried him in that khaki shirt and shorts because up till that time, there was still no free education in Nigeria.
How was his relationship with your mother and how would you describe their marriage?
They had a very exquisite, wonderful relationship. He viewed his wife as his equal partner. They did everything together. They were always in accord and never disagreed. He still had the deciding vote but he would listen to Mama. But most of the time, they agreed on everything. He gave her a lot of independence and respect. They had a very good, happy and solid marriage. They respected each other and were so in love their whole lives. She was buried next to Papa in the compound.
Were you in the country when he died?
No, I was in the United States.
Why did they call him Oga Tasere?
It was because of his small stature (laughs). I think there is a book somewhere with that same title, Oga Tasere. They used to call him Oga Tasere, Uncle Tai, and he was happy with all of these names.
How did he react whenever he was angry?
Papa would let you know. He was not somebody who would just punish you for no good reason. He would explain to you why you were being punished and why he was trying to correct you. I don’t think I was ever censored or corrected when it was undeserved. He was always correct.
Your father was asthmatic….
(Cuts in) Yes he was.
How did he manage it since he lived to be 74?
He was a physically strong person. He was physically active, working in the gardens, and so on, and that probably helped him along the way. But the asthma was aggravated by his last stay in jail. Also, there was a time he was in Jos, and then in the north, where there was a lot of dust, but he managed it for so long. His autobiography, To Mother with Love, is going to be reprinted this year to mark the 20th anniversary of his passing on. That was the only thing he wrote which entirely encompassed his life. And I remember asking Papa when I was small that, ‘Daddy, tell me about the story of your life’, and he said, ‘no, go and buy my book and read’ (laughs).
How did he create time for his family?
Papa was a believer in quality time and not quantity time. One enjoyed every moment one spent with him. Papa worked for his vision but he found time. He would take us out to dinner, the zoo, and other interesting places. We did some few things with him but he was passionate about his business and we all respected it.
What were his likes and dislikes?
He did not like pompous people or arrogant people, people who made other people’s lives miserable just to enrich themselves. He was completely in favour of the common man. He loved common people and would do anything for somebody who was impoverished or not doing very well. Papa liked technology. I often wonder how Papa would have taken to the social media and the Internet if he was alive today. He would have been able to write so many articles and talk to people on blogs, discuss with people on different social media platforms. I think he was ahead of his time. Maybe they would have killed him because he would have said it all (laughs). He was also a consummate reader.
What was his favourite food?
Papa would eat anything. He ate local food, and because he was in Europe for 10 years, he also ate any type of continental food. He liked eating eba with soup or eating any local dish. He never touched alcohol in his life. He would just drink his water, he also liked drinking tea and coffee.
What do you miss most about your dad?
I miss the inspiration that he provided. I miss the way that he was able to pinpoint problems. I miss his uncanny ability to predict and see what Nigeria needed 50 years ago. I miss his inspiration. Mum was a loving mother. I miss her so much, unabashedly accepting everybody, but still a disciplinarian. Up till the day she passed away she was still tutoring pupils, reading and discussing with them. I miss her terribly. One can never replace one’s mother.
What was your dad’s daily routine like?
I can’t speak about his routine, I spent a lot of my adult life in the US, but his daily routine was similiar to those of his students; they would get up at a quarter to 5am, do exercises, go for their morning assembly, and then to class; he was there when they came out, he ate meals with them. Then we would have an afternoon, evening session with him on the field, which was called silent hour, it was an hour of silent reading. This was papa’s favourite time of the day because he got to sit quietly, he would read his book and would not be disturbed. Afterwards, his students went to night prep and eventually to bed. His day mirrored the students’ day, except his would start two to three hours earlier and end two to three hours after theirs. He was a workaholic.
As his daughter, what do you think his legacy should be?
I think his legacy is not in the buildings or physical structure. His legacy lives on in every Nigerian who was touched by him and in turn they are training the next generation. There are hundreds of ex-Mays (former students of Mayflower school) who imbued his teachings, philosophy and his enthusiasm, and they are scattered throughout the world. And they in turn are impacting the next generation. So, it is not the bricks and mortar; it is the power of his mind and his character that is the most enduring legacy. I think the common Nigerian has given him the very utmost respect, but his impact has been underrated by those in power because he was an academic and not a politician.
Your father was an atheist, why didn’t he believe in God?
He was raised in the church. He had senior members of his family who were church going and he was born in the church, but I think he became disenchanted with it at a certain point and refused to go to church. There is a tremendous emphasis in Nigeria today on church-going, but if you looked at Tai Solarin’s life, he lived the life of somebody who was a devout Christian or Muslim. Papa lived all his life to serve the people. He cared for the widow and the orphan. He educated children. He gave away most of what he had. So, saying that he was an atheist and not a godly person and that he was going to hell is absolutely untrue. I know where my father is resting. He was a very devout man; he loved people and what better way to serve God than to serve people?
Can you encapsulate his life’s philosophy?
It is hard work, integrity and honesty, but with flair and passion driven to achieve those goals. Papa was a very transparent person.
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