The national secretary of the Project Nigeria Movement, PNM, Mr. Olawale Okunniyi, has described the death of former governor of Lagos State, as a huge loss to progressive politics in Nigeria.
He said his death also marked a huge loss to the people of Lagos State, the masses and vulnerable of the world.
Okunniyi while paying tribute to Jakande spoke of his relationship with him, just as he described him as a mentor.
Said he: “I was first privileged to work closely with Baba Kekere, (as Alhaji Lateef Jakande, the first civilian governor of Lagos State was fondly being hailed by his admirer, loyalists and supporters) in the wake of our struggle against the one party rule of the PDP, following the flawed 2007 presidential elections won by President Umaru Yar’adua.
“It all started after I was instructed by our revered leader in PRONACO, Chief Anthony Enahoro and Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Chairman of CNPP both now of blessed memory, to set up an exploratory meeting for selected Leaders of Opposition Political Parties and Progressive Politicians to work out an electoral alliance or merger of opposition political parties and allied political movements in the country to check the excesses of the PDP at that time.
“The first of the exploratory and substantive meetings, which was hosted by my humble self at the Lagos Airport Hotel, was chaired by Alhaji Lateef Jakande on the insistence of both Chief Ayo Adebanjo and Alhaji Balarabe Musa as Chief Tony Enahoro himself could not make the meeting.
“Ever since then, as the Secretary of the movement, I became very close to Baba LKJ, who saw some potentials in me and started mentoring me.”
Okunniyi said Jakande believed “Politics is life and service to humanity,” and “we must take it seriously.”
“There are so many political experiences I gained from relating with Alhaji Lateef Jakande, especially on how to conduct meetings calmly and meticulously and to draft a concise Communiqué of a meeting.
“Baba during the final stages of our movement engagement, became the chair of our manifesto committee and he proved that he was truly a political General with the way he handled all the young Turks in the committee. He was a very inspiring workaholic…
“LKJ will be greatly missed by humanity,” Okunniyi said.
