LAGOS – In the early hours of Thursday, February 11, 2021, Lagos State lost her first civilian governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande to the cold hands of death. The demise of Jakande became the most trending topic for the whole of Thursday and days after.
Immediately the news of his death broke, accolades began to pour in not just from Lagos State but almost every part of Nigeria, with many describing Jakande as the best governor to have ever ruled in Nigeria.
For some, Jakande’s achievements in the education and housing sectors between 1979 and 1983, gave many Lagos residents the opportunity to have access to qualitative education and some the opportunity to become house owners till today.
Jakande’s Voyage Into Politics
The late Jakande was encouraged by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to contest for election as executive governor of Lagos State in 1979, on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). After the election, Jakande defeated his opponents, Adeniran Ogunsanya of the defunct Nigeria People’s Party (NPP) and Sultan Ladega Adeniji Adele of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and was subsequently sworn in as governor.
His Tenure As Governor
Jakande’s administration was effective and open and implemented the cardinal policies of his party. He introduced housing and educational programmes targeting the poor, building new neighbourhood primary and secondary schools and providing free primary and secondary education. He established the Lagos State University (LASU).
His government constructed over 30,000 housing units. The schools and housing units were built cheaply, but were of great value. Some of the housing units include low cost estates in Amuwo-Odofin, Ijaiye, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Ije, Abesan, Iponri, Ipaja, Abule Nla, Epe, Anikantamo, Surulere, Iba, Ikorodu, Badagry.
To fund some of the projects, Jakande increased the tenement rates and price of plots of land in affluent areas of Victoria Island and Lekki Peninsula and the processing fees for lottery, pools and gaming licenses.
He also completed the construction of the General Hospital in Gbagada and Ikorodu and built about 20 health centres within the state. As a governor, he established 23 local government councils which were later disbanded by the military.
He also started a metroline project to facilitate mass transit. The project was halted by the then administration of Major General Muhammadu Buhari, who was then the Head of State.
However, Jakande’s tenure as governor ended when the military seized power on 31 December 1983.
Jakande became a senior member of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) when the United Nigeria People’s Party (UNPP) and All People’s Party (APP) merged. In June 2002, he was suspended by a faction of the ANPP loyal to late Epe-born politician, Chief Lanre Razaq.
Jakande was the first chairman of the Action Party of Nigeria (APN) when it was formed in November 2006. In May 2009, he was reported to be engaged in a struggle for control of the party with his former ally, Dr. Adegbola Dominic.
After the military takeover in 1983, Jakande was charged, prosecuted and convicted of treason, although later he was pardoned. After being freed, he accepted the position of Minister of Works under the late Sani Abacha military regime, which earned him some criticism. But he claimed that he had accept from the late MKO Abiola and other progressive leaders.
In a later interview, he said he had no regrets about the decision to serve. However, his association with the late Abacha handicapped his career in politics after the restoration of democracy in 1999.
Jakande was without airs and had no interest in public coffers and this exhibited when he refused to move into the comforts of the governor’s official residence. He lived in his private residence located at Ilupeju and commuted to work in his private car.
Jakande also ensured that members of his household attended state-owned schools and accessed healthcare from state-run hospitals.
Journalism Career
In 1949, Jakande began a career in journalism first with the Daily Service and then in 1953 joining the Nigerian Tribune. In 1956 he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Tribune by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, publisher of the tabloid. His editorials were factual and forthright, and were treated by the colonial powers with respect.
After leaving the Tribune in 1975, Jakande established John West Publications and began to publish The Lagos News. He served as the first President of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN).
Jakande’s Education Days
He was born in the Epetedo area of Lagos Island, Lagos State on 29 July 1929. His parents were from Omu-Aran, Kwara State. He studied at the Lagos public school at Enu-Owa, Lagos Island, then at Bunham Memorial Methodist School, Port Harcourt (1934–1943). He studied briefly at King’s College, Lagos in 1943, and then enrolled at Ilesha Grammar School in 1945, where he edited a literary paper called The Quarterly Mirror.
Since his demise, encomiums are still pouring in honour of the late Jakande.
President Buhari, while speaking on his (Jakande) death, said the former governor lived for the good of others, state and country, and his legacy of standing for all that was right for humanity would be long remembered.
Buhari, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, affirmed that Jakande’s imprint on the commercial nerve centre of the country, Lagos State, which was the former national capital, would continue to awe and inspire, reminding everyone of the strength of character and sacrifices of the visionary leader.
The president further noted contributions of the first civilian governor and former minister of works to the growth of democracy and good governance in the country, just as he described the elder statesman as “a patriot, whose wisdom will run through generations, especially in putting people first in development plans.”
For his part, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in a statement titled, ‘We Celebrate, Not Mourn Jakande, described the late Jakande as an “inspirational father of modern Lagos State” who was behind the transformation in Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Tinubu said he was inspired by all that Jakande did and he has since tried to walk in the spirit of Jakande.
The former governor of Lagos State wrote, “Today, we lost a great soul. Pa Lateef Kayode Jakande exemplified the best of Lagos and of Nigeria.
“He 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.
“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.”
He further stated, “The Jakande administration conceptualised and actualized the Lagos-Badagry Expressway that opened that whole sector of the state for development. His administration conceived the Round Office from which I operated for eight years as governor but he did not occupy the structure even for one day. This was characteristic of him for Papa toiled & worked not for his personal benefit but for the future and the good of others. Incidentally, my administration conceived the new Lagos State Governor’s Office, which I never occupied for one day!”
Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa called on President Buhari to, as a matter of honour and respect, commence a process that will lead to the implementation of the Lagos metro project initiated by the Jakande administration.
Obasa explained that the metro line project, which he said was stalled by President Buhari, would have been part of the achievements of the late Alhaji Jakande.
The Speaker stated that the Metro Line project would have reduced traffic congestion in Lagos State and also would have been at a cheaper rate.
“Jakande would have been remembered more if he had been allowed to do the metroline project. But now that he is dead the Federal Government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, who led the military junta then in a coup, should remember Jakande with the project or any other befitting project.
The Speaker recalled that the late Jakande provided free education for the people of the state and gave out free textbooks, saying that he was a beneficiary of the gesture.
He added that Jakande built schools, including the Lagos State University, which he said has produced several people that have achieved greatness in life.
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