By Sunday Ani
Seyi Jakande, son of the first civilian Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande has revealed how in 1993, the late Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner of the 1993 presidential election influenced his father to join the late Gen Sani Abacha’s government after the palace coup that removed the interim government of Ernest Shonekan.
He made the revelation during the maiden edition of Lateef Jakande Annual Memorial Lecture, which was put together by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) with the support of the Lagos State Government.
He thanked the NGE and his father’s associates and friends for extolling his virtues and accomplishments but stressed that a peep into his father’s private life would be necessary so that people could also see that part of his life.
On how his father joined the Abacha’s government, he said: “In 1993, after the annulment, the late MKO Abiola appealed to Alhaji Jakande to serve under the late Abacha’s government. At first, he was reluctant because it was against his principle but Abiola was adamant and kept insisting that he must accept.
“He took it to his committee of friends, and they had a meeting where they deliberated on it. As always, he would always put things through a democratic process and they put the matter into vote. At a point, he wanted one of them to go but they all said it must be him. They overwhelmingly voted that he should join the government.
“He joined the government as a Minister of Works and Housing, and as consistent with his policy, he went to work. I think he was constructing about 121,000 housing units at that time. When he was faced with the challenge of finance, he went back to the drawing board and came up with the idea of Banana Island. As the Minister of Works, he took advantage of the prime land, the waterways behind Ikoyi, filled it up, sold it to the rich, generated money from it and subsidized the housing scheme.”
He also said his mother should be celebrated because he was magnanimous enough to have allowed Jakande to do all the things that he did without interference. “She allowed him to govern the city of Lagos selflessly. She deserves commendation because she had the capacity to have changed what we are listening to today. Throughout his tenure as governor, it is on record that he never allocated anything to his wife or any member of his family. He started the Banana Island, planted it and filled it up and not even sand was given to his beloved wife or any member of his family. That is why I said my mother deserved a round of applause because he stood with him through thick and thin,” he said.
He gave another instance where he thinks his mother should also be celebrated. He said: “Another major and very significant incident was when Jakande built the public schools. When he built the public schools, we were all in private schools. So, one day, we were being driven to school and he said he had changed our school and they moved us to the public schools, which did not have doors and windows at that time, and we were coming from schools that had air conditioners. He believed that what is sauce for the goose is equally sauce for the gander and my mother accepted. So, today I don’t know how many wives or women that will accept those conditions. So, my mother deserves to be celebrated more.”
He also called on the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to name the Lagos State University (LASU) after Jakande. His argument is that the former governors of old Bendel State, Prof Ambrose Alli and his Ogun State counterpart, Bisi Onabanjo, who borrowed a leaf from Jakande to build universities in their states, had been honoured by renaming the universities after them.
“Let me also use this medium to appeal to the Governor to revisit the issue of renaming the LASU after Jakande. He founded the university. He said when he started it, Professor Ambrose Alli and Bisi Onabanjo came to understudy them and he asked Prof Femi Agbalajobi to put them through and that was how Bendel State University and Ogun State University came to be. Today, Bendel is Ambrose Alli University and Ogun is Olabisi Onabanjo University. The founders of the two universities took the idea from Jakande,” he said.
Seyi equally argued that instead of Nigerians praying for a new Nigeria, they should be praying for a Nigeria of Jakande’s time when things were properly done and when life had meaning in Nigeria. “Looking at Jakande’s life and strategy, I think our prayer point should no longer be for a new Nigeria but to go back to the old Nigeria because that was when things worked; that was when public service was public service,” he submitted.
Media gurus, experts, associates and editors, also ceased the moment to x-ray Jakande’s life and times were x-rayed as they extolled his virtues and accomplishments.
In his welcome address, the President of the NGE, Eze Anaba, described him as a media icon whose outstanding legacies had influenced many journalists in their daily lives. He stressed that Baba Kekere as he was fondly called lived an impactful life so much that nobody could discuss the drivers of modern journalism in Nigeria without talking about him. “His footprints are everywhere. His shadow looms large over the media industry. He was an incredible talent whether as a journalist or as a politician; he had a response to everything. He devoted his political career to advancing the values of liberty and social justice. He also sacrificed the values of honesty, integrity, courage and fairness.
“He told the stories of the powerless and held the powerful to account. He founded the Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), and brought the International Press Institute (IPI) to Nigeria,” he said.
He noted that the inaugural lecture was to honour and recognize his outstanding achievements, saying, “For us at NGE, we think it is important to institutionalize a culture of appreciation which at the same time will give an institutional memory to know how we got to where we are and how to build on the legacies and accomplishments of the past.”
In his opening remarks, the chairman of the occasion, General Ike Nwachukwu described the event as the beginning of recognition and honour for a man who had done so much for journalism in Nigeria.
Gen Nwachukwu who recollected his days as a journalist with the Daily Service where he met Jakande before he joined the military said he led the Daily Service Newspaper very well and attributed whatever he became in the army to him. “He encouraged us to be forthright and courageous. It is a great honour to be chairing his inaugural memorial lecture. Whatever you do, remember him and follow his path. He lit the light on our feet and we have not gone wrong ever since,” he said.
In his keynote address, Prince Bayo Osiyemi who represented the keynote speaker, Prince Felix Adenaike stated that talking about Jakande was like trying to describe an elephant. He described him as a pioneer of plans for his many firsts. He traced his contact with journalism to the period when he left the Kings College Lagos after his brush with the white for the Ilesha Grammar School, where he edited the school magazine. “It was at Ilesha Grammar School that he caught his teeth in journalism. First, he started from the Daily Express, before moving to the Tribune, where he rose to become the Managing Director, and remained in that capacity until 1978 when he quit and contested for the Lagos State governorship election. He set phenomenal records in administration as governor. Governors from other states visited Lagos to see what they had read in the papers. His exploits in government were unequalled,” he said.
He equally noted that reciting his achievements and accomplishments in Lagos is just like reciting the litany of the saints. “He came to Lagos and he conquered,” he submitted.
In journalism, he also said: “He reached the top of his chosen profession, journalism. As a thoroughbred journalist, he endeavoured to make his reporters all rounders. He was skilled in editorial craftsmanship. Editorial writing was his forte.
“He was adept at conducting meetings; he could hea everybody out. He was an expert in drafting communiqués. He was very meticulous.”
Also, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat said Jakande lived a very long and impactful life. “He was a great administrator. My father was his Commissioner for Information. I know that when he calls, you just go and do it,” he said.
He lamented that the advent of social media had destroyed what was obtained during the days of Jakande in journalism. He said: “What they had then was a civil society. Today, journalism is different. There is no way for social media to confirm the authenticity of anything. We can abuse anybody. The Africanness in us is gone,” he said.
He stated that the birth of the NGE is a testament to Jakande’s vision, even as he noted that the lecture would expose Jakande’s ideas to the future generations.
He also spoke about his rich library in his Ilupeju residence, promising that the state government would not let it die. He also said the state government would continue to support the annual lecture. “He has an extremely rich library and we must not let it die. We will also continue to support the annual lecture but we need a bigger hall, so that we can accommodate more people and begin to change the dynamic of our country,” he said
Speakers after speakers ranging from Prince Bayo Osiyemi who delivered the keynote address on behalf of Chief Felix Adenaike to Dayo Duyile, Segun Osoba, Lade Bonuola, Tola Adeniyi, Garba Shehu and Gbenga Adefaye, all described him in glowing terms.
The high points of the event was the presentation of special plaques to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and the Jakande family represented by his amiable wife, Alhaja Sikirat Jakande and his son, Seyi.
Dignitaries that graced the event included Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, General Ike Nwachukwu, Segun Osoba, Sikirat Abimbola Jakande, Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Uncle Sam Amuka, Kayode Akinmode who represented the Ogun State Governor, Prof Anthony Kila, Raheed Adedoyin, Bayo Osiyemi, Mustapha Isa, Gbenga Adefaye and Leye Ajayi who represented the NUJ president among others.