“Jakande governed with the vision of a man who saw tomorrow. For example, he moved the seat of government to Ikeja because he foresaw that Lagos Island would be overburdened by the dual roles of being the seat of both federal and state governments”
–Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, News Direct, Friday, February 12, 2021.
Much has been written, and will continue to be written about Mr. Lateef Kayode Jakande, the first civilian governor of Lagos State, who passed on last week at the ripe age of 91. Praise has flown almost ceaselessly about his simplicity, accessibility, unusual in an age of bombast, dynamism among other remarkable qualities. All of these are as they should be, as most of the tributes are truly merited and do not necessarily relate to our cultural habit of flattering the living and the dead.
Jakande truly wore several hats, matched by a coat of many colours. There was for example, the fearless journalist, formidable in advocacy, undergirded by ruthless logic and frankness. There was too, the loyal follower of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who, many years after his death, continues to live on in the hearts of admirers. We also had Jakande, the austere and frugal politician, committed to service in a generation notorious, though on a lesser scale than nowadays, for prodigality.
This columnist wishes to draw attention to the co-visioner in Jakande, who attained eminence by a vision that does not necessarily belong to him but to his principal, Awolowo, but which he pursued with doggedness, and creativity. Before getting to that, let us recall that the man did not have the benefit of university education but nonetheless authored books, and pamphlets which indicate the quality of education available in Nigeria in his days. By contrast nowadays, almost every political gladiator parades a riot of certificates obtained in the upscale market for such things but most of them are bereft of the learning that should have accompanied those degrees.
Besides, today’s politicians not having acquired the habit of reading continue to carry on without inclination to books with disastrous consequences. But let me get back to LKJ’s vision of a transformed and effectively governed Lagos patterned on the remarkable achievements of Awolowo who within a few years as Premier turned Western Region into the most developed part of the African continent. So, Jakande had a visionary model to copy and reproduce in Lagos and he did his best to accomplish that imaginative objective. For instance, as some others have pointed out, had the military not intervened in 1983, Lagos would have had the benefit of a metro line as early as 1985. In the same manner, he built the first state-owned television in Nigeria, namely: Lagos Television, following the example of Western Nigerian Television Service which had the acronym of ‘First in Africa’. Needless to say that his strides in poverty alleviation manifested themselves in the free education policy of his party and the low cost housing which Jakande adopted as a signature policy.
Simply put, the vision of Jakande which was derived from that of Awo was to turn his part of Nigeria into the most developed hub not just in Africa, but in the developing world. Imaginably, if the military intervention of the mid-80’s had not occurred and had that strand of the political class enjoyed more time to write its vision on the sands of history, that part of Nigeria, governed under a neo-welfarist ideology would have been turned into something like Dubai or one of the Asian Tigers way back in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Tragically, that did not happen but we must pay just tribute to those of our heroes past that had the audacity to dream big and to govern their part of the country with a constructive vision. Obviously, Nigeria as a rudderless estate bearing the brunt of several years of visionless leadership has something to learn from leaders of mettle like Jakande, and others like him such as Aminu Kano, Nnamdi Azikwe, who tried to turn Nigeria into a developmental state well before that term gained currency.
Kagara: The failure of intelligence
Only two months after the sensational kidnapping of 344 schoolboys in Kankara, Katsina State, bandits struck again two days ago with the abduction on motorbikes of 27 pupils and 11 members of staff with their families in Kagara, Niger State. Clearly, that the bandits could so easily trump and swamp our security institutions suggests a frightening failure of intelligence, lack of preparation, and refusal to learn from previous events. It is now coming to light that some stakeholders had given early warning signals regarding the possibility even probability of mass abduction in Kagara which had been a hot zone in the relentless siege of the bandits in Niger State. The drama of the invasion and consequent capture contains all the features of careful planning with some of the bandits appearing allegedly in military uniform.
The question to ask then is: How come that rather than proactive activity which would have aborted the kidnap, we were driven to reactive undertaking after the horse had bolted from the stable. It will be interesting to know, what became of the information and alerts that were supposed to have been given to security agencies, and why they did not spur the kind of response that was needed to stave off another round of hostage taking on school premises.
Unsurprisingly, the Senate called on Wednesday for a declaration of a state of emergency on insecurity considering that almost on a daily basis, bandits, terrorists, and killer-herdsmen operate with increasing impunity, and daring across the length and breadth of the country. It is doubtful, however, whether a state of emergency, politically correct as it sounds, will not bring in its wake unpalatable consequences that are better avoided. For example, a state of emergency if not carefully policed by civil society, and other arms of government could easily degenerate into dictatorship and offer ready excuse for cascading upwards military spending. It is yet to be stated what things a state of emergency will achieve, that our security institutions cannot achieve without putting the country under emergency situation.
The advance of terror especially in the North-West already constitutes an emergency. There is no need in the opinion of this columnist to create hype and hoopla around that concept; what is required is a determined onslaught and vigorous response to the forays and raids of the bandits, making better use of technology and intelligence. In earlier admonitions, the issue of spreading the intelligence dragnet across tormented populations had been broached. In particular, the issue of closing the yawning gap between state and society which treat each other with aloofness was raised. The current reign of insecurity and what appears to be the complicity of citizens with the bandits is a telling rebuke of the kind of electoral chicanery devoid of purpose-driven governance that we find ourselves. Tragically, it is a double whammy for afflicted citizens who never enjoyed government presence and now fall victim of the spree of bandits. What is required apart from contingency response is a holistic shift in a governance paradigm of an ineffective and remote state that has served us so poorly.
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