LAGOS State will set up a Leadership and Fellowship Academy to immortalise the late Alahaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, the state’s first civilian governor who died on February 11. He was 91.
There was applause yesterday as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu broke the news at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagios Island where eminent citizens and ordinary folks gathered to bid the foremost politician a final farewell.The governor said the decision to establish the Academy to immortalise Jakande was thought-through, given that there have been several public monuments already named after the former governor.
The Lateef Jakande Leadership and Fellowship Academy will be backed by an Act of the House of Assembly. It will be a tertiary school of leadership and governance for young people in public service and private sector to learn the art of leadership through qualities and values bequeathed by the late Jakande, who governed Lagos from 1979 to 1983.
The Day of Tributes organised by the state government to celebrate the life and times of the late Jakande brought together his political associates, senior government officials and leaders from various sectors, including the royalty. .
The late Jakande’s widow, Alhaja Abimbola and children were at the event. Primary and secondary school pupils drawn from various schools across the state also attended the event.
Sanwo-Olu described Jakande as “a titan of progressive politics and leadership”, who also built an “outstanding” reputation for himself as a journalist.
The Governor said Jakande had etched his name on chapters of history, given his “unrivalled” achievements in governance.