These anecdotes are strung together from my Facebook posts of April, 2014. The stories are copied, which is why I am having difficulty with the layout.
Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, December 16, 1926 - April 09, 2014, former Prime Minister and former President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
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| Robinson with trade union leaders, oil and sugar strikes of the 1970s |
Anecdote: The Sou Sou Land team were in Tobago as guests of Robinson, his wife Pat and Member of Parliament Pam Nicholson some time in the early 1980s. Robinson was head of the Tobago House of Assembly at the timeJohn Humphrey, Mr and Mrs. Sankersingh and Asad Mohammed were travelling in Pam Nicholson's car and I rode in the back of the Robinsons' green Land Rover. It was a Saturday and lots of people who had been to their Seventh Day Adventist services were on their way home. One white pick-up we saw was loaded, really loaded on the back and still waiting for more people. Pat commented on the safety of the passengers. Robinson pulled alongside the pick-up and I said to myself: "Oh oh we are in for it”, keeping low in my seat. He spoke to the driver "My brother, if you must carry my children like that, please drive with care". There was loud and sustained applause. As the Land Rover pulled out, Robinson looked at me in the rear view mirror and said, "Okay Zorina, you can lift your head up now". He had seen it all.
Day 2
Today, an ANR Robinson joke. I hope it is not in poor taste. After the 1990 coup attempt, Robinson went to Venezuela to recuperate (he did). He was provided with security by the Venezuelan government. Every morning the security greeted him with "como estas" (with all the accents included of course) and Robinson would reply "un dia".
One day the security asked: Mr. Prime Minister, do you know what I am saying?
Robinson: Yes you are asking how I am doing.
Security: And why are you saying un dia.
Robinson: Well I am replying as Trinidadians do. I am telling you "ah day”....
Day 3
I was working at All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union when the first ever Tobago House of Assembly elections were called for November 24, 1980. Robinson had contested the 1976 general elections as leader of his own party, the Democratic Action Congress, but the party was only able to muster two Tobago seats and he became the Member of Parliament for Tobago East.
I travelled to Tobago for a weekend to assist in the campaign in the company of a ULF activist from Siparia, Dindial Maharaj and Joseph Lum Kin, a shopkeeper of Chinese descent who was also a councillor in the St. Patrick County Council.
We visited Robinson at his office in Tobago and he made time to see us, give us his assessment of how the campaign was progressing, called it a win, indicated which areas we could visit to assist and gave us the names of campaign officials in those districts. He was thinking it would 7-5 in favour of the DAC, but they did even better winning eight seats.
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The green Land Rover made its way through the village of Castara, heading for Little Englishman's Bay. Robinson stopped the vehicle on a slope as we turned a corner. I stared in wonder. Both Robinson and Pat looked back at me. "This is what heaven must be like," he said, "I hope our friends at the back also get a glimpse of heaven".
Many years later, making this trip with Anise Maybodi, I asked her to stop on or about the same spot. Robinson had his heaven in Tobago.
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On his 60th birthday on December 16, 1986, Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson woke up as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. On December 16, 1991 he went to sleep with two Tobago seats.
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Day 4.
I was walking past the National Alliance for Reconstruction headquarters on Albion Street, Port of Spain on December 05, 1986. I remember that day very well because it was my birthday. A yellowish Toyota car pulled up in front of the building. I heard some hearty laughter and stopped to look. Gerry Hadeed (this was written when he was Minister of Tourism) emerged first. Then I saw Clive Pantin. The laughter continued from inside the car. I thought maybe they were carrying schoolchildren. Robinson stepped out. "You got a nice joke there, Mr. Robinson," I said. Clive Pantin, still chuckling, replied "Yes we just told him he will be Prime Minister in a few days". Robinson woke up as prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago on his 60th birthday.
Day 5
Robinson was Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly the year that Tobago Crusoe won the Calypso Monarch title. I told him in the presence of Pam Nicholson, the Tobago East MP, that I had heard he had written the lyrics for "Productivity". I was joking, of course. Robbie, sharp-witted as he was, replied: "Zorina, if I could write lyrics like that I would not be a politician".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV3YGx2a0Wo
Day 6
Jack Alexis told me he was going to his home in Carenage one afternoon, in early 1987 when he saw the Diego Martin River being dredged. This was shortly after the National Alliance for Reconstruction had formed the government and John Humphrey had been made a super minister (Works and Transport, Public Utilities, Housing) by Robinson. Alexis, a PNM supporter, had witnessed years of flooding and distress for residents of Diego Martin and that was the first time he had seen any attempt to deal with the problem. "I wanted to go to Humphrey's house and bring him down there to see how many people were cheering for his efforts. I wished I could bring Robinson to see how after a long time people could see their government at work". Humphrey's efforts extended to the Scarborough Deep Water Harbour. But the wheels of government were moving too fast even for Robinson... Humphrey was taking this super minister thing seriously, he had to go. And that triggered off a series of actions that made the NAR a one-term government and gave back power to the PNM.
Day 7
I was at my office on Picton Street, Port of Spain on Friday, July 27, 1990, the day Muslim insurgents attempted to take over the country. Events were just unfolding as I left with Nadia Hosein. The streets were blocked. My landlady from her balcony could see clearly onto Maraval Road where the television station, one of the places occupied by the Muslimeen, was located. The history of what took place is well documented, though probably not accurately. That includes Robinson's statement "attack with full force" when he was instructed to ask the army to stop firing at the Red House, where he and other parliamentarians were held captive. This story, however, is about my landlady. She worshipped at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Newtown. One day, Mrs. H came to my office in tears. "I don't believe what I heard at mass this morning"' she sobbed, "father said he has received dozens of phone calls from parishioners saying they should have killed Robinson". St. Patrick's of course is a far cry from your ordinary village church
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