Alhaja Sikirat Abimbola Jakande, wife of former Lagos State Governor Lateef Jakande, is 70 today. In this interview with Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU and MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE, the former First Lady explains how she met the eminent politician, his style in office and his triumphs over political vicissitudes.
How do you feel celebrating 70?
I feel great celebrating 70 years. I am so happy for the wonders God has done in my life. I cannot say anything other than thank God for His mercy upon my life. I thank God for saving my life in moments of difficulties and for giving me the grace to be 70 years. I pray that God will continue to uphold me and protect me from any evil.
How did you meet your husband?
I met him at Ibadan, in the home of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, while I was working with Mama HID Awolowo. When he approached me for marriage, I consulted with Mama Awolowo and they gave me their consent because they knew him very well. He is a man they trusted. Though he was a journalist, that was not what attracted him to me. It was his closeness to the Awolowo family. He was like a son to them; they knew his quality and honesty of purpose. I did not have any difficulty in accepting his proposal because Mama Awolowo gave him a pass mark.
Did you ever imagine that he would be great in life?
Whatever any one will be in life, it will be in accordance with destiny. God is the one that can specify the extent people can go in life. Nobody can be categorical on what will happen later in life. When he was a journalist, he used to visit the Tribune Office, Ibadan every week. I never knew whether he would become a governor or minister. But, one thing happened. We got married and we have been living together.
When he became governor, how did you feel?
I am a simple person by nature and up till now, I am still a simple person. I have not become arrogant simply because my husband became governor. My husband and I lead a simple life. When he was governor, we allowed everybody unrestricted access to our house. We accommodated everybody, irrespective of tribe. Our house was home to Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and other tribes. We still maintain the same style up till now. This place you are conducting this interview was the same place we lived when he was governor and that is where we are still living. You don’t need to fill any form or observe certain protocols before you access our place. There was a police officer attached to Alhaji Jakande. he drew the attention of Alhaji to the fact that he needed to restrict people because of the way they freely came to see him. But, Alhaji told him that the people voted for him and he could not prevent them from seeing him. That was how he handled the matter. People are still commending him for his style of government, which allowed people to freely see him. They have continued to pray for him. they said he did well as governor of Lagos. Last week, when we went to Lagos Island in preparation for my birthday, a woman told Alhaji that no administration can compare with his. We did not harass anybody and he was a simple man. For four years, we remained in this house when he was governor. We accommodated people and up till now, people are still coming for help.
How did you cope with the life of the wife of a politician whereby your husband never had the time to attend to issues at home?
I never took this thing seriously. So, nobody will say that Alhaja is not good. Just as he was busy, I was equally meeting people who desired attention. Whoever came looking for Alhaji was given the seat to wait for him, if it was not urgent. I did my bit to give him the necessary support.
How did you feel when the military sacked your husband as governor and he was not allowed to complete his tenure?
We did not carry this thing on our head. I was here when the military came knocking my doors. The security man came knocking my door. I asked him what was the matter, but he could not respond. I initially thought it was armed robbers that came. The soldiers had gone to the nearby police station to ask for the residence of my husband. When the police showed them our house, they could not believe that Jakande would be living in that type of apartment they saw. They did not meet Alhaji at home because he went to Badagry. We tried to reach Alhaji, not knowing that all the soldiers had disconnected communication lines. So, I started moving from one place to the other in search of Alhaji. It was on my way back home, I saw his driver, who told me that Alhaji was taken to the Ikeja Cantonment. When I met him there, he asked me to bring for him clothes, food and praying mat. I went there and met him. He told me that the soldiers had done their home work and found that it was only him among other governors who never travelled abroad during their tenure. It was true. It was only Alhaji who did not travel outside the country during the fours year of his administration. They told him at the cantonment that we should not worry, that no harm would be done to him. The late General Sani Abacha even asked his wife to make provision for the feeding of Jakande while at the cantonment.
He was detained for 18 months. how did you cope with the situation?
I had to be strong during the period. I was not feeling bad because I knew he did nothing wrong. He did well as a governor; there was no misconduct of any form. He was a hard working man who did his best for the state. Even, when the wives of the commissioners visited me, I attended to them the same way I am doing right now. I was fully convinced that my husband would be free because he did commit any crime. I took food to him and whatever I prepared for him, he ate. Up till now, he does not have a particular choice of food he eats at any point in time. So, I simply prepare good food for him that he will like up till today. He is not a problem to me when it comes to eating.
At a time, Jakande wanted to be President of Nigeria. Did you feel bad that the dream did not come true?
I did not feel bad for any reason. The first day he broke the news to me that he wanted to contest for the President of Nigeria, it came as shock. Lawyer Awotesu came to our house and wanted to find out from me whether Alhaji wanted to contest for the President of Nigeria? He said they would not allow Chief Olu Falae to contest. I told him Alhaji was not contesting because I knew he does not have the money. If you want to contest for any position in Nigeria, you must have plenty money. And we don’t have money. But, I cannot say we are poor. All that I know is that anything you intend to do in Nigeria, you must have money. But, three days after, on Sunday morning, Alhaji called me and told me that he wanted to run for the President. It was like someone hit the hammer on my head. I asked him about the money. He said he has no money, but his love for the country was propelling him to serve. He said Nigeria was like a cracked wall and if it is allowed to go on like that, it would collapse and when that happened, nobody will be able get it standing. If people like Baba Awolowo were to be around, he would have urged Baba to go and contest for the third time. He said he would not want God to blame him for not utilising the knowledge he gave him. The day he broke the news I had headache, I told him people will mock him because he does not have the kind of money. He went to see General Ibrahim Babangida and gave him his plan of action. Babangida commended him for his ideas and he travelled across the country to sell his manifesto. Babangida later aborted the transition programme. So, nothing bothered me about the whole exercise. He wanted to serve and he never planned to go there to look for money. Since that is the case, I was not disappointed about it. If he was allowed to run, he could have done more than what he achieved in Lagos.
Afenifere blamed him for not resigning as Minister under Abacha. How did you feel when this happened?
I am not afraid of anybody. I know all the Afenifere peoples’ condition and character. When Alhaji wanted to be a minister, Senator Adefuye and General Oladipo Diya came to see Alhaji that Chief M.K.O Abiola asked them to see Alhaji. It was Abiola himself that nominated Alhaji for the Minister of Works and Housing because of his performance in Lagos State. He said they did not want to make Chief Bola Ige minister. that was why Chief Ebenezer Babatope was used to replace Ige. Mama Mobolaji Osomo was nominated by Papa Adekunle Ajasin for ministerial position. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Abiola himself came here and met Alhaji. Alhaji asked Abiola what about June 12, Abiola said there was no problem. After their discussion and immediately they left, Alhaji called all the local government chairmen of Lagos State and they were here. I made breakfast for all of them. Alhaji briefed them about what transpired and they put what was discussed to vote. It was only Bayo Osiyemi that objected and Alhaji said majority carried the vote. He accepted to serve as minister. Those shouting that Alhaji did not allow Abacha to release Abiola were not making honest statement. When Abiola was informed that he would be placed on house arrest, Alhaji persuaded him to accept the condition because they cannot harm him under house arrest. But, some people misadvised Abiola and put him into problem and he never accepted house arrest. The people who misadvised him are the Afenifere. The Oba of Lagos even castigated the people who misadvised him and said they had no common sense. If Alhaji had resigned, they probably would have killed him. But, nobody came here to tell Alhaji that he should leave the government for one reason or the other. Nobody can say Alhaji is a bad man or corrupt politician. He is a honest and hard working man. You can depend on him. even, Alhaji Shehu Shagari said if only Alhaji became a member of his cabinet, he would be happy. Alhaji and Baba Awolowo never quarreled. The people that are not honest, who are bent on getting something are the ones trying to destroy his name. The quality of Alhaji is there and nobody can take that away from him. I am not trying to over praise him, but what I know is that he will not think of evil about anybody. Even, when you come to report someone to Alhaji that such a person is insulting him, Alhaji will not say anything, until he sees that person and ask him.
What is your assessment of women participation in politics?
I must say what a man can do, a woman can also do. Women are now fighting for positions in government. And if any government must fill five positions, let women occupy at list two slots from the five. We are the one working for them to attain any position they want to attain. Besides, women are more than men, in terms of number. My advice to women politicians to participate well and accommodate shades of opinion in their areas. They should consider what people will say after leaving office.
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