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Moshood Adebayo
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba have described former Lagos State governor, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, as a progressive with uncommon achievements.
They spoke at a reception marking the 90th birthday of the founder of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria ( NPAN) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), in Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday.
Describing Jakande as a revolutionary and transformational figure in the political history of the country, Osinbajo said he was able to do several revolutionary things beginning with the change of the education system in Lagos, through his sheer vision.
“Through this policy, thousands of children in the state had the opportunity of going to school. More importantly was in the housing sector. The largest number of housing projects by any state government in one circle, including even the Federal Government, was built under the Jakande administration. And that has remained to this day.
“So, Alhaji Jakande has shown that governance with the people in mind, with the common man in mind, is possible and that it is possible to impact lives of all our people if we are dedicated and committed. His life and times have shown that dedication to public service can have its own rewards, especially the rewards of so many of us who are here. All of us have in one way or the other been affected politically. I do not know of anyone here who has held a leadership position that was not influenced by the Jakande administration.”
On his part, Tinubu described Jakande as a foremost progressive, who achieved so much at the time it was extremely difficult to rule in Nigeria.
“Ideologically, he has never departed from the progressives’ path. He is always with the progressives. Too many historical things that so many of us who governed the state after him had just to dust up from the archives and ask ourselves what Jakande did when he was confronted with such challenges. So, many of the schools are testimonial for Alhaji Lateef Jakande.
“We’re extremely proud that we see him to be 90 and one record that we must equally accept here as a gift was that progressive government has never failed in Lagos. It is not easy to attain such height in life,” he said.
Osoba, who was chairman on the occasion disabused the minds of many Nigerians about Jakande working as minister under the late despotic leader, Gen. Sani Abacha.
“The thinking was that pro-June 12 supporters should have a foot in the government. Many may not remember that Alhaji Jakande alongside Dr. Olu Onagoruwa and Alex Ibru were in the vanguard of those who worked for MKO Abiola’s bail, which unfortunately, he was prevailed upon by his lawyers not to accept at the last minute. We will never know what course history would have taken if Abiola had taken that bail.
“It is important for us to note that for Alhaji Jakande, the appointment was just another opportunity to serve the public, not for any personal aggrandisement. He has unfortunately been maligned for this by members of the old political family, forgetting that much earlier in 1966, he had rejected invitation to serve the military government of the day. The failure to understand the context of some of the political developments post-1993 still underpins the political tendencies in South West politics today.”
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said Jakande is a national name, “which is synonymous with development, whether in education, water, housing, public transportation, etc. And it is a name nobody can toy with.”
He named the yet to be commissioned Igando Housing Estate, which has 496 flats of one, two and three bedrooms, after the former governor.
