Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has described the first civilian governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, as the last of the political titans.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that Jakande died on Thursday at age 91.
Tinubu made the remark while likening the late Jakande to Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Pa Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Olabiyi Onabanjo, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Alhaji Aminu Kano, among others.
In his condolence message to Jakande’s family, titled; “We celebrate not mourn Jakande,” the APC National Leader said Jakande “could appropriately be described as the last of the titans ranking with the likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Pa Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Olabiyi Onabanjo, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Alhaji Aminu Kano, among others.“
He said the late Jakande was also a “mature statesman never given to histrionics or fanning the embers of disunity,” adding that “at difficult moments in the nation’s history, such as the struggle against military dictatorship, he took personal painful decisions that cost him a lot, but his integrity was never impugned.”
He added: “Showing his extraordinary natural ability, Pa Jakande was largely self-educated, yet he rose to become a man of great knowledge and a preeminent figure in Nigerian journalism who stood as one of the most incisive and brilliant editorialists of his generation. He practiced journalism with the most audacious courage in defence of freedom, liberty and equity even in the thick of vicious military dictatorship.
“As accomplished as he was as a journalist, Pa Jakande shone even more brightly as a governor and true leader of Lagos State. Whatever we have been able to accomplish in Lagos State is because of the groundwork Pa Jakande set out before us. In so many ways, he is the inspirational father of modern Lagos State.
“In housing, education, health care, and road construction, he left an indelible imprint. Thousands of Lagosian families still reside in the several housing estates he constructed across the state. Thousands of beneficiaries of his free education scheme are accomplished professionals and successful individuals in diverse fields today. The Jakande administration conceptualized and actualized the Lagos-Badagry Expressway that opened that whole sector of the state for development.”
