The first civilian Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, is dead. The former Lagos Governor died in Lagos on Thursday at the age of 91 years.
Jakande was a political pupil of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who he was loyal to from the days of the Action Group in the First Republic to the era of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the Second Republic when he became governor. He was later a minister during the administration of late General Sani Abacha. He made an attempt at the president of Nigeria on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) but lost the party ticket to late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, in the 1992 transition that was nullified by the then Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, before the subsequent transition that produced late M.K.O Abiola in the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Jakande left remarkable legacy in the governance of Lagos State in education, health, transportation, and infrastructures.
May his soul rest in peace, Nigerians of goodwill say to the late Lagos governor.