Lateef Kayode Jakande (23 July 1929 – 11 February 2021) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as governor of

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...

from 1979 to 1983, and later Minister of Works under the

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

military regime.

Background

Lateef Kayode Jakande was born in the Epetedo area of

Lagos Island Lagos Island (''Ìsàlẹ̀ Èkó'') is the principal and central local government area (LGA) in Lagos, it was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian census, the LGA had a p ...

on July 29, 1929. Both parents are from Omu-Aran,

Kwara State Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

. He studied at the Lagos public school at Enu-Owa,

, then at Bunham Memorial Methodist School, Port Harcourt (1934–43). He studied at

King's College, Lagos King's College, Lagos (KCL) is a secondary school in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was founded on 20 September 1909 with 10 students on its original site at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits only male student ...

in 1943, and then enrolled at Ilesha Grammar School in 1945, where he edited a literary paper called ''The Quarterly Mirror''. In 1949, Jakande began a career in journalism first with the ''Daily Service'' and then in 1953 joining the ''

Nigerian Tribune The ''Nigerian Tribune'' is an English-language newspaper published in Ibadan, Nigeria. It was established in 1949 by Obafemi Awolowo and is the oldest running private Nigerian newspaper. In the colonial era, the newspaper served as the mouthpie ...

''. In 1956 he was appointed editor-in-chief of the ''Tribune'' by the owner Chief

Obafemi Awolowo Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (; 6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Yoruba nationalist and Nigerian statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement (1957-1960). Awolowo founded the Yoruba nationalist group Egbe O ...

. 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).

Governor of Lagos State

Encouraged by Awolowo, he ran for election as executive governor of Lagos State in 1979, on the

Unity Party of Nigeria The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was a Nigerian political party that was dominant in western Nigeria during the second republic (1978-1983). The party revolved around the political leadership of Obafemi Awolowo, a sometimes polemical politician ...

platform. He defeated his opponents,

Adeniran Ogunsanya Adeniran Ogunsanya, QC, SAN (31 January 1918 – 22 November 1996) was a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He was among the chief-founders of the Ibadan Peoples Party (IPP). He served as a Lagos State commissioner for Justice and Education and d ...

of Nigerian People's Party ( NPP) and Sultan Ladega Adeniji Adele of

National Party of Nigeria The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was the dominant political party in Nigeria during the Second Republic (1979–1983). History Formation The party's beginning could be traced to private and sometimes secret meetings among key Northern Nigerian ...

with a total of 559,070 votes and was subsequently sworn in as governor. His administration was effective and open and implemented the cardinal policies of his party. He introduced housing and educational programs targeting the poor, building new neighbourhood primary and secondary schools and providing free primary and secondary education. He gave poor people's children education and many of them are now very prominent in the society today. He established the

Lagos State University Lagos State University, also known as LASU, is located in Ojo, with sub-campuses at Ikeja and Epe both towns in Lagos State, Nigeria. The university was established in 1983 by the enabling law of Lagos State, for the advancement of learning ...

and the

Nigerian Institute of Journalism The Nigerian Institute of Journalism is a Nigerian monotechnic located at 8-14, Ijaiye road, Ogba in Ikeja, the capital of Lagos State, southwestern Nigeria. The institute is a diploma awarding monotechnic established in 1963 by the International ...

, Lagos' house is named after the former governor. Jakande's government constructed over 30,000 housing units. The schools and housing units were built. Some of the housing units include low cost estates at

Amuwo-Odofin Amuwo-Odofin is a local government area (LGA) in the Badagry Division, Lagos State, Nigeria. Amuwo Odofin LGA is divided into Oriade and Amuwo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) with 7 wards each; Abule-osun, Agboju, Ibeshe, Ijegun, Irede, K ...

, Ijaiye, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Ije, Abesan, Iponri, Ipaja, Abule Nla, Epe, Anikantamo,

Surulere Surulere is a residential and commercial Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area located on the mainland of Lagos in Lagos State, Nigeria, with an area of . At the last census in the year 2006, there were 503,975 inhabitants, wi ...

, Iba,

Ikorodu Ikorodu is a large city in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located to the north-east of Lagos, along the Lagos Lagoon and shares boundary with Ogun State. With a population of over 1million inhabitant, Ikorodu is currently the 12 largest city in Nig ...

Badagry Badagry (traditionally Gbagli) also spelled Badagri, is a coastal town and Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Porto Novo Creek, an inland waterway that con ...

. To fund some of the projects, Jakande increased the tenement rates and price of plots of land in affluent areas of

Victoria Island Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the List of islands by area, eighth-largest island in the world, ...

and

Lekki Peninsula Lekki is a city in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located to the south-east of Lagos city. Lekki is a naturally formed peninsula, adjoining to its west Victoria Island and Ikoyi districts of Lagos, with the Atlantic Ocean to its south, Lagos Lago ...

and the processing fees for lottery, pools and gaming licenses. He also completed the construction of the General Hospital in Gbagada and

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 and his tenure as Governor ended when the military seized power on 31 December 1983.

Later career

After the military take-over 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

military regime, which earned him some criticism. He claimed that he had accepted the post under pressure from M. K. O. Abiola and other progressive leaders. In a later interview, he said he had no regrets about the decision to serve. However, his association with Abacha handicapped his career in politics after the restoration of democracy in 1999. Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande became a senior member of

All Nigeria Peoples Party The All Nigeria Peoples Party (abbr. ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria. Under the leadership of Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke who was its vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 presidential elections. The party ...

(ANPP) when the UNPP and All People's Party (APP) merged. In June 2002, he was "suspended" by a faction of the ANPP loyal to 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. Many prominent people attended his 75th birthday celebration. At this event, former Governor of Lagos State

Bola Ahmed Tinubu Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian accountant and politician who served as the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and Senator for Lagos West during the brief Third Republic. In June 2022, he was chosen as the A ...

said Jakande was worth celebrating for his life of consistent commitment to public service. Former

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

Governor

Achike Udenwa Achike Udenwa (born in 1948) was the governor of Imo State in Nigeria. He became governor after winning the election in 1999. Udenwa won re-election in 2003, and his term ended on 29 May 2007. He is a member of the People's Democratic Party. Udenw ...

said Jakande's life and times epitomised "resilience, positive audacity, bravery and bravado, and a knack for excellence."

Later life and death

Jakande died in Lagos on the February 11, 2021. His body was interred at Vaults and Gardens Cemetery, Ikoyi, Lagos state on Friday February 12, 2021 under strict observance of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

protocols.

References

External links