The People's Democratic Party, PDP's Governorship Candidate for Lagos in the 2015 and 2019 polls, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has described Alhaji Lateef Jakande as the most productive, credible and selfless Governor the state had ever known.

“If anyone would be designated as the Father of Modern Lagos, that title should belong exclusively to Alhaji Late--ef Jakande,” Agbaje said, in a congratulatory message he dispatched on Tuesday for the nonagenarian’s birthday.

Agbaje said the old politician left gigantic records of achievements that marked him out as a legendary trailblazer of Nigerian politics and administration.

According to him, Jakande was a first-class disciple of the doyen of Nigerian politics, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and deserved to be celebrated by coming generations for his welfarist programmes that produced myriads of people-oriented projects.

“Happy 90th Birthday, Sir,” Agbaje greeted, praying that God grant the Second Republic Governor great health and happiness to live out the rest of his days.

In Agbaje’s words, “History will record Alhaji Lateef Jakande as a forthright, kind-hearted and selfless politician, who lived and worked for the welfare of the masses. He personified the dream leader.”

Describing Jakande as the man who saw tomorrow, the PDP flagbearer recalled that the veteran Journalist conceptualised the country’s first Metro-Line to support an expanding Lagos City, a project unfortunately abrogated by the military.

“In just four paltry years, from 1979 to 2019, and without recourse to loans, Jakande established enduring legacies and left a record that subsequent administrations with vaster resources have found impossible to beat,” Agbaje recorded.

Reeling out the achievements of Jakande, Agbaje said the Second Republic Governor constructed the current Lagos State Secretariat with a capacity to house all the state’s ministries as well as the Governor’s Office (the Round House) as well as the Lagos State House of Assembly Complex.

Other achievements that Agbaje credited Jakande for included:

• Establishing low-cost residential housing estates in Ijaiye, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Ije, Abesan, Iponri, Ipaja, Abule Nla, Epe, Amuwo-Odofin, Anikantamo, Surulere, Iba, Ikorodu, Badagry, Isheri/Olowu, Orisigun, and other places

• Founding the Lagos State University (LASU) and the Lagos State College of Education (renamed Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education)

• Establishing the Lagos State Television (LTV) and Radio Lagos as the first state-owned broadcast outfits

• Running a 24-hour broadcast service on radio and television

• Establishing free-health care and erecting General Hospitals in zones throughout the state

• Running free education at all levels, scrapping the shift system in schools and raising attendance to an all-time high in government primary and secondary schools

• Establishing the first State Traffic Management Authority, called “Road Marshals.”

http://www.championnews.com.ng/tag/agbaje-celebrates-jakande-at-90-as-father-of-modern-lagos/
https://thisage.com.ng/agbaje-celebrates-jakande-at-90-as-father-of-modern-lagos/
https://www.lagospostng.com/agbaje-celebrates-jakande-at-90-as-father-of-modern-lagos/