Why I Stayed In My House As Lagos Governor, Jakande
Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande veteran journalist, publisher and politician is 75. In this chat with KAMAL TAYO OROPO, Baba Kekere tells of the values he imbibed as a youngster. Excerpts:
Why I stayed in my house as Lagos governor
I didn't see why I would not remain in my house when I was Governor. With due respect to my colleagues. I think staying away from people you are governing is part of the colonial legacy, where District Officers stayed on the highest hill over-looking the town. I don't think there is nothing wrong with one staying in the midst of people you are serving.
In respect to my Toyota Crown, I loved my Toyota, that's all. The kind of training we had is that you must not start a life style, in office, which you cannot sustain outside it. You must not start taking Milo if you know that in your private life you cannot buy one. Governance is a call to service not for personal aggrandisement. It is just unfortunate the way most of our politicians now turn their offices to avenues of enriching themselves. Service is all about humility
My political life
I got into politics almost the same time I started my profession. By accident of history my first newspaper was a political paper. So, I was not very far from politics which took off in Lagos with my participation in the formation of what is called the Area Councils for our local politics in Lagos. It involved essentially the Obaship of Lagos.
Then, the politics of Lagos had always been about the Obaship up to the early days. This time around, the Area Council supported Mr. Musendiku Adeniji Adele to become the Oba of Lagos as against Temi'yemi who was the choice of the Dosunmu royal lineage.
We fought for Adele as a matter of principle and justice. The royal family of Lagos had about four ruling houses. But the only one ruling house that had monopolised the Obaship stool was the Dosunmu. We did not consider this to be fair, hence our support for Adele who won the Obaship.
From the Area Council we went up. The Action Group was founded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and seven others. I was present at the inaugural ceremony in Owo. And from that time on, I was fully in politics, fully participating in the affairs of the Action Group, playing my own roles in the development of the nation.
The Action Group won the election to the old Western Region with Chief Awolowo as the premier and the party made tremendous impact in the development of the region. The Action Group was the pacesetter after which other regions and even the central government emulated. In the First Republic, we tried to move the nation forward. The Action Group, through the Western Region government, was ahead of other governments in the country.
Then we had this coup led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, which ushered in the first military government in the country. We had the first experience of military rule which ended with the death of some political leaders like the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa; the premier of Northern Region, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello; his Western Region counterpart, chief S. L. Akintola; chief Okotie Eboh, the Finance Minister.
One of the bitter pills we had to swallow was the endeavour by the party's (A. G.) opponents to destroy the Action Group. We were victims of this determination to destroy the party. There came a division between the party. The crisis, which broke the party into two, as a result of Chief S. L. Akintola becoming the Premier of Western Region while Chief Awolowo chose to remain in opposition at the federal level. This crisis tore the party into two and the opposition, NPC, exploited the crisis by charging Chief Awolowo, myself and 22 others with treasonable felony. I was the number 13th accused person. We were tried by Mr. Justice Sowemimo and given various jail sentences. I had seven years, Chief Awolowo had 10 years. Tony Enahoro too was there and got jail sentence too. It was a sad experience, bitter too. But I thank God we survived it.
There was a military coup and counter coup from which Yakubu Gowon emerged as the Head of State. It was this military government that released us from prison. Then came the Second Republic, new parties were formed and we established the Unity Party of Nigeria. It was during this Second Republic that I was elected the governor of Lagos State. It was a very beneficial occasion because it gave me the opportunity to serve the people and to touch the lives of millions of Nigerian citizens for good. It was not my original intention to contest for the governorship. My colleagues in the party and our leader, Chief Awolowo, decided to nominate me for the post. I am glad they did and I saw it as the hand of God. Today, I can look back with gratitude to almighty God that he used me to make life better for millions of women and men.
I went into government with five cardinal objectives - Free Education at all levels; Free Healthcare; Full Employment; Affordable Housing for the people; Rural Development. I am grateful to God and extremely happy that the fruits of these cardinal objectives have survived for years. I am happy that tens of thousands, if not millions, who went to my free education schools are now occupying high position in the society today. Equally, the 13 housing estates which I built are also visibly present. I asked myself what could have happened to those millions who might not have had education if not for the government. I also ask myself about the people living in the housing estates.
How I became Baba Kekere
We were going to commission our housing estate at Amuwo Odofin, I invited Chief Awolowo. In the course of the commissioning, Awolowo named me Baba Kekere. He (Awolowo) went further to state that in the old Oyo Empire, the next person to the Alaafin of Oyo was Baba Kekere who you must pass through before seeing the Alaafin.
However, this gesture became a source of trouble for me as my colleagues became jealous. I was the person Chief Awolowo gave that particular title, or any title for that matter. So, I tried to console them that they should wait, that when Awolowo returns, I will persuade him to give them their own.
My beginning
My beginning is like everybody's beginning - from cradle. My birth place is Epetedo area in Lagos Island, in the Jakande chieftancy family. My father is Alhaji R.F.A. Jakande, the Olowu of Lagos. My mother is Alhaja Sinata Aduke Jakande, the daughter of Alhaji Idris Akoju, the chief Imam of Al-Quranic Central Mosque of Lagos.
My paternal grandmother, Aishat Fatolu Jakande, was my very close guardian and mentor. She taught me many things from those early days, the most important one being contentment and the other is discipline. So, I learnt a lot from her, to whom I am very much attached. Those two lessons - contentment and discipline - have lasted, as they became my guiding lights throughout my life.
My education
I started in Lagos private school, which was founded by my uncle, Mr. E. A. Akintan. However, I completed my primary school education in Port Harcourt, at Bahan Memorial Methodist School. This was because my father was transferred by Marine Department of the Federal Government, and I had to go with him. At Port Harcourt, I lived in the house of a friend of my father, Chief E. S. E. Agbabiaka, who was an Assistant Superintendent of Police, who had his residence in the police barracks that was close to my school. From Bahan School, I won the entrance exam to King's College Lagos. I was the only successful candidate from Port Harcourt. But my stay in King's College was short-lived as result of a crisis in the school. This made me to move to Ilesha Grammar School in Ijesha. Ilesha Grammar School was, and is still a community school established by the Ijesha community. The motto of the school is E wu wa omo lu'abi, meaning behave responsibly. These institutions had a considerable impact on me and my life. At Ilesha, the lessons I learnt from my grandma were also part of the school's philosophy.
Ilesa Grammar School places so much premium on good character, integrity and self-sufficiency. I learnt from there the lesson in self-honour.
It was at Ilesha that I started journalism by publishing a school magazine 'The Quarterly Mirror'. My school had no magazine before then, like many other schools. I also founded a Boys Literary Society, which published the school's magazine. This was very welcome by my school's principal and teachers. The principal was so happy that he gave some of my colleagues double promotion. I was, of course, included in the list, but after serious consideration I decided to decline the offer. The reason was that I was in Form 4 and I had prepared myself to write the Cambridge Examination that year and leave school. Cambridge Examination was for Class six and I felt if I had accepted, I would have been obliged to stay two years longer than I planned. So, I decided most reluctantly to decline my own double promotion. The principal was disappointed by my decision and reacted by stopping me from writing the Cambridge exam that year. While I fully understood the feeling of the principal, I was not prepared to continue schooling beyond that year. So, I put in for the London Matriculation Examination, which was even higher than Cambridge and I was successful.
My life as a journalist
I got my first job as a reporter because of my performance in Ilesha. My employer was Mr. A. B. Olawuyi, editor of Daily Service, I sent him a copy of my school's magazine which impressed him. He sent me to Glover Hall to cover a Court story.
Daily Service was where I cut my teeth in journalism. I went from Reporter to Sub-Editor to Proof Reader to Managing Editor to Managing Director. Daily Service was the official mouth organ of the Nigerian Youth Movement. Then, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the chairman of the Youth Movement in Ibadan. Dr. Akinola Maja was the chairman of the Daily Service and Dr. Akanni Doherty was the Director. The Daily Service brought me into direct contact with these great men, whom I had admired from distance. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the publisher of the Nigeria Tribune in Ibadan and was also the Director at the Daily Service. Subsequently, there was merger of the African Press, the publishers of the Tribune and the Amalgamated Press was formed. I was transferred to Ibadan to run the Nigeria Tribune. And the transfer further brought me closer to Chief Awolowo, the founder. I benefited a lot from this association. I learnt a big deal. Chief Awolowo was a mine of ideas, a truly great man.
It became my lot to be the builder of the Nigeria Tribune and I am very proud of that legacy.
Talking about journalism, my generation of journalists did not have the benefit of formal training. We were trained on the job. But we endeavoured to improve the situation through the establishment of the Nigeria Institute of Journalism and other professional organisations. We created the Nigeria Union of Journalists and later Nigeria Guild of Editors. We established a code of ethics for professional journalism. I am a signatory to that code. We also established the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, to which the Nigerian publishers belonged. I was the first president of the association, Mr. Mobolaji Odunewu was the first president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists and Olu Oyesanya was the general- secretary. These professional bodies made impact on the whole of our profession and I am very happy to note that these bodies exist till today.
It was while I was serving in these organisations that I became a member of the International Press Institute. I was elected vice-president of the institute and later became the president. The IPI is the organisation of editors and editorial executives in the free press of the world. The IPI is dedicated to the freedom of the press and we intervened in many countries. They assisted in establishing the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, they gave us the first two directors after which Nigerians took over.
The way forward
We have to go back to the first principles. Political parties should be based on programmes and ideology. Without ideology and programmes, we are like a ship on the high sea that has no compass. We are being thrown about by the waves. Now, the advantage of having programmes is very simple; it can easily be demonstrated thus: if I leave my house in the morning I should know where I am going. Our governments should have a clear focus of where they are going.
The political parties have no ideology at all. Each of them is a collection of incompatibles. That is just the way forward. To achieve it may not be so easy. But I know that God is capable of changing darkness into light. We must recognise the fact that God has been so extremely favourable to us to an extent that no other country can claim.
I have heard and read that the way froward is through the Sovereign National Conference. I respect those who are advocating the conference. I understand their problems. They have made all these demands out of frustration and bad government. However, SNC is not the answer to our problems. Should it be executed, it will create more problems for the nation than we have now.
Between Tinubu and Ogunlewe
If it were not painful, it is laughable. We are making ourselves laughing object not only to ourselves but also in the eyes of the international community. I am ashamed of it. We all should be ashamed of it.
In the first place, every government has roles, we have done that for years. Both sides have not demonstrated enough maturity. If I were Governor Tinubu, since the Minister of Works, Ogunlewe, says 'Ikorodu Road is my road' I will say ' very good, have it'. I will allow him to take as many roads as he likes and I will let it be known to everyone that these are federal roads, they will manage it. I will then take others and develop them and even build new ones. I will build my own roads or even build a bridge from Ikorodu to Marina. So whatever that happens on the roads they - the federal government - lay claims, will be their responsibility. If any accident happens on that road, they should be held responsible; even if there is dirt on the road, they should be held responsible.
I am sure the federal government cannot do that for long time. If it takes 50 per cent of the roads in Lagos, what of Zamfara, Kaduna, Delta They will have to make their demands also.
Withholding councils' allocation
These are some of the areas where federal government has exceeded its power. The money for the running of local councils is not the federal government's money - the money belongs to everybody. The issue is very simple. If a state has need for only 2 local councils, money due to it statutorily should allocated to it, not on the basis of the numbers of local councils. And if a state desires 100 local councils, how to share the money should be the state's problem.
The federal government is exercising powers that do not belong to them. These are indeed simple cases which the judiciary should not be bothered with. The issue at stake to me is so simple. Just like the case of the state of emergency declared in Plateau State. I don't think the problem calls for the so-called removal of the state governor. What President Obasanjo should have simply done is to send about 5000 mobile policemen to Yelwa. It has nothing to do with the governor.
