Sir Lloyd’s legacy

Son suggests BCC be named in honour of late former prime minister Stories by Marlon Madden The son of Barbados’ fourth former prime minister Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford has urged the Government to consider honouring his late father by having the Barbados Community College (BCC) bear his name. A separate call has also been made for Sir Lloyd’s proposed Caribbean Centre for Integration and Democracy Studies to become a reality. Delivering the eulogy in a packed St Peter’s Parish Church where Barbadians gathered for the State funeral to say goodbye to a man who led this country for seven years, Garth Sandiford recalled his father’s commitment to the BCC. Sir Lloyd is credited for his role in building out post-secondary education when he served as Minister of Education, with the creation of the BCC at which he also later taught. “My father had a deep love for the Barbados Community College which he founded. It has helped so many Barbadians,” Sandiford said in his eulogy that was also heard by Barbadians at several satellite locations across the island. “My father believed with all his heart that education was a way to freedom. I think it would be fitting to see this institution bear his name in some kind of a way because it speaks to his legacy.” Reflecting on the life and work of his father, Sandiford described him as “a giant of a man” whose dream was always to become a teacher and professor of politics. He recalled learning several lessons from him, noting that his biggest nugget of advice was to “sow a good seed and in due season one will reap a rich reward”. “There are many people that we come in contact with every day, and when we see someone that has potential, it is our duty to pour into them and help them become that which they were destined to be,” Sandiford said. Reflecting on a recent conversation he had with his father in which he asked him what legacy he had left or what message he wanted to convey, he said the man who was prime minister from 1987 to 1994 said simply: “The lesson I would seek to convey and the legacy that may be left is to use the talents you have been given by nature and nurture to the greatest extent possible and to use those talents to do the best you can for those whom you come in contact with.” Sandiford said his father taught him and his sister, Inga that they were not above anyone and that while some jobs were harder than others, “all jobs count and that we should respect anyone no matter what job or position they hold”. During her tribute, Prime Minister Mia Mottley told the audience that included President Dame Sandra Mason, Government ministers, former prime minister Freundel Stuart and other members of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) which Sir Lloyd led, that he had “served with fortitude and with a commitment to duty above all else”. Mottley fought back tears as she recalled Sir Lloyd’s contribution to post-secondary education, describing him as “a scholar, a statesman, a poet and a visionary with respect to our planet”. She recited a poem Sir Lloyd penned 31 years ago, Ode to the Environment, which highlighted matters affecting the planet. “I commit on behalf of our Government to have that poem enshrined in a public place with the words of the Barbados Programme of Action, so that those who come will understand that what we do today is not beating virgin territory, but is part and parcel of a continuum of a great and proud people who understand that in spite of our being the smallest rock in the Atlantic Ocean, that we have a duty always to play our part to save the planet on which we live,” the Prime Minister said. “Sir Lloyd served his country, his people, with distinguished dedication, selflessness and a graceful dignity that highlighted his very humble and humbling personality. In all the hurly-burly of politics, the ups and downs of life, he remained always a gentleman, a class act,” added Mottley who paid tribute to a second late prime minister in three years, the first being in August 2020 at former prime minister Owen Seymour Arthur’s State funeral. Professor Andrew Downes also recalled the late prime minister’s contribution to tertiary education in Barbados, describing him as a teacher, researcher, writer and policymaker. “Sir Lloyd’s contribution to the development of the BCC and the University of the West Indies was so significant that he is the only person to date who has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from both institutions – the BCC in 2004 and the UWI in 2009,” he noted. Stating that Sir Lloyd was also “an unrepentant regionalist and believer in Caribbean regional integration”, Downes recalled that he developed a proposal for the establishment of a Caribbean Centre for Integration and Democracy studies. “Unfortunately, the centre never got established due to the lack of funds. But I want to make my second recommendation or request, that as CARICOM celebrates its 50th anniversary, it would be a fitting tribute to memory of Sir Lloyd that the University of the West Indies and the Barbados Community College, with the support of the Government of Barbados, collaborate to establish that particular centre,” said Downes. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb]]>