Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the late former governor of Lagos, Lateef Jakande, as a core democrat and true patriot.
In a letter to Mr Jakande’s widow, Abimbola, on Thursday, Mr Obasanjo said the first civilian governor of Lagos will be “sorely missed by all of us”.
“With a deep sense of loss, I write, on behalf of my family and on my behalf, to sympathise with you over the demise of your beloved husband and patriarch, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, at the age of 91 and I want you to know that we all are also bereaved and we feel the pain of the transition of this great hero and son of Nigeria,” Mr Obasanjo wrote.
Mr Jakande died in the early hours of Thursday at 91.
Mr Obasanjo noted that, “at 91, Mr Jakande attained the status of a venerable elder whose death must, by convention and our culture, ordinarily be the occasion of celebration and thanksgiving”.
“But by no measure can he be described as an ordinary man. He was, by all measure, a great man, an ardent patriot, a frontline journalist, an astute politician and reputable administrator, a profile earned over the last five decades.
“He served this nation principally through journalism and through newspaper management before becoming an active politician. It must not be forgotten that he served as an Editor-in-Chief of the Nigerian Tribune at a stage in his career where he acquitted himself as a positively-minded, focused and imaginative personality.
“Indeed, he steered the company to editorial credibility and profitability and this has remained a reference point in the history of the organisation till today. It is with similar verve and energy that he pursued his work at John West Publications which was established by him to publish The Lagos News. He was a master of the craft of column-writing.
“He also helped in the professional re-orientation of the younger generation of journalists in all the media organisations he had found himself. He would be remembered as a fine journalist and one that was greatly admired by the general public and his peers as a straight-forward and complete gentleman majorly.”
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