Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Sunday, February 14, 2021, paid a condolence visit to the family of the first civilian governor of the state, the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande.
Jakande, popularly called Baba Kekere, died on February 11, 2021 at the age of 91.
Speaking during the condolence visit at the former governor’s residence in the Ilupeju area, Sanwo-Olu said that the quality of leadership that Jakande exhibited could not be quantified.
He said that the first civilian governor was a decent and humble man, who was at peace with humankind.
According to him, his tenacity, kindness, love for the poor, genuine emphathy, resolve to ensure that the people he governed got the very best, are the testimonials that people still remember.
”Alhaji Jakande scored several firsts that even subsequent governors have not been able to match.
”I say here with all sense of humility that indeed, he had been a builder of our time, a man that laid the foundation of a Lagos that all of us are attempting and trying to develop and put layers on and his exist cannot be easily quantifiable.
”We can only take solace in the fact that he had lived a good life, he had been a very decent man, a very humble man and he had reflected what true humanity is all about.
”It is a source of inspiration to all of us, it is a clarion call for all of us that are in position of leadership now to think and reflect on how also would we be remembered after our time.
”So, we are here to commiserate again with the family, encourage them, to pray with them, and to say to them that indeed at this trying time, we will be with them,” he said.
The governor said that the entire citizens of Lagos understood and appreciated the kind of icon, elder statesman Jakande was.
”May his soul continue to rest in peace and the memories he had left for all of us will continue to linger for a long time and the experience, the learning that we have taken, we will not throw away.
”We will continue to remember him for good. We will continue to say that Lateef Kayode Jakande was a good man that lived in our time,” he said.
