Jakande, Progressivism and Revisionis

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Prince Bayo Osiyemi, writes about the 40th year anniversary  of the inauguration of Oke-Afa low cost housing estate by former Governor of Lagos state, Alhaji Lateef Jakande,  on December 9, 1983.

Forty years ago, on December 29, 1983, Oke Afa low cost sprawling estate was inaugurated by the first civilian governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande.

It symbolised a populist policy of a government that cared more about the greatest good of the greatest number of people. It was the first of its kind in Lagos State and indeed any part of the country.

It is the reason we are all gathered here today to celebrate 40 years of community living in this OkeAfa estate, appropriately named Jakande Estate.

Two days after the inauguration 40 years ago, the military, more renown for revisionism, struck, and terminated a government of Lagos State that provided cheap and affordable houses as the ones we have here; apart from the four cardinal programmes of the party in power at the time – the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) – free education at all levels, free medical care for its citizens, rural development and roads infrastructure that gave rise to the first ever Lekki-Epe highway.

Because “Jakande’s story is now history”, courtesy of the title of a book written on his exploits in government by one of the super permanent secretaries of the time, Mr, now Chief R.B Fanimokun, it is important to draw our attention to the fact that prior to Jakande’s advent, people in the Lekki/Epe axis who wanted to come to Lagos, Ikoyi or Victoria Island, by road, would first need to travel  through Ikorodu back into Lagos and then move to Ikoyi, Victoria Island and

Maroko where motorable road terminated at the time.

In contra-distinction to a populist administration that made the people the centrepiece of its existence, the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari curtailed the opportunities available to majority of citizens and put in place a government of the few, for the benefits of the few, with arbitrary style of governance.

Alhaji Jakande was an exemplary governor who saw public office as an avenue to minister to peoples needs without looking forward to personal gain. He was imbued with an uncommon sense of mission, as he thought out of the box in providing for the masses of people of Lagos State

How was he able to achieve this phenomenal feat within a space of four years and three months that his administration lasted before the soldiers struck?

And, how was it also possible to deliver a two bedroom flat for N5,000  and three bedroom flat for N6,000, and in a fair allocation manner that gave no room for favouritism  or preferential treatment?

He identified man’s inhumanity to man, manifested in middlemen syndrome, and excessive crave for profit, as majorly the reasons why provision of affordable housing was a rarity before his advent in government.

In tackling the problem, he identified people who shared in his vision, in and out of the polity and the civil service, and laid before them his idea of what he wanted, in providing affordable housing for the low income earners who formed the bulk of the population.

The team identified (a) direct approaches to manufacturers of housing materials like cement, roofing sheets, iron rods, etc, (b) cut off middlemen and women and stockpiled and warehoused them for supply to contractors who were engaged in the construction of the two and three bedroom units.

Alhaji Jakande himself offered an explanation for this, by postulating that you can achieve the impossible if you commit yourself, without compromise to a worthy cause or mission, without permitting any distractions.

It was because of this single-minded devotion to public service and duty that he was able to deliver a total of 30,000 housing units across the state in Amuwo Odofin, Iponri, Abule Nla, Abesan, Dolphin, Anikantamo, Iba, Surulere, Ijaiye, Ijeh Badagry in four years and three months.

I know Alhaji Lateef Jakande much as I know the lines on my palm. Since our association began when I started out life as a reporter under him as editor in chief and managing director of the Nigerian Tribune in the early 70s, I took time to study the Lateef Jakande persona.

He was focused, determined, and had no time for niceties. As a journalist, he was unsmiling and unobstructive. If you met him on the stairs of our Broad Street building in central Lagos and passed him by, without greeting him, he cared less as he too had no time to greet anyone.

He minded only his business of news gathering and processing, as well as writing editorial opinions that were a scourge of the military rulers of the time.

While on this, what differentiated Jakande from other leaderwriters like Bisi Onabanjo of the Daily Service or Ebenezer Aloba of the Morning Post or Adamu Ciroma of the New Nigerian, was that he would pen scathing criticisms of any government policy he disagreed with, and offer solutions to the problems he identified and wrote against. That was why, as John West, which was his pen-name, no one could justifiably pooh-pooh him as an armchair critic. He went to prove that even at a time he had not shown interest in governance, that a journalist, as a critic of government, can also be a doer, a performer !

He also exhibited uncommon courage in his writings and administration of the  Nigerian Tribune that he trod where angels feared; the reason why he was a regular customer of the military governments with regard to arbitrary arrests and detentions.

His lion heart and dare-devilry against unjust and incompetent governments in khaki or agbada or babanriga shaped his attitude to governance that he resolved that in going into government, he would make a huge and positive difference as governor of Lagos State.

Because he abhorred frivolities and shunned ostentatious living, he brought these attributes to State House, eliminated wastes and harnessed all identifiable resources of the state for the benefits of the poor.

I remember, as if were  yesterday, that in his first outing as governor, he let it be known that his major business in government was to cater, in the main, to the greatest interests of the greatest majority.

In setting out his agenda for the masses, he attracted to himself massive reaction of the rich and privileged. But because he put on the armour of which some military generals are incapable, he won. He must have been a diligent student of a political consultant, Thomas Sweitzer, who opined that the basic principles of military strategy apply equally to the political terrain. These include: “amassing strength against weakness, keeping focused on primary objective, seizing the offensive and avoiding being placed on the defensive, simplicity of action, economising the use of force, manoeuvring your way out of problems and over obstacles, unity of command and central decision making; using surprise and initiating planning secrecy”

Marshaling his arsenal against all human, mineral and vegetable obstacles on his way, Alhaji Jakande triumphed to give Lagos State many firsts including the first state university at Iba, near Ojo, Lagos State Television and 30000 low cost housing units spread across 14 estates in the state, including Oke-Afa that is 40 years old today.

Before closing and lest some people go away with the impression that he was altogether against the rich, he is on record to be the initiator and creator of Banana Island in Ikoyi, the Haven he created for the super rich to whet their extravagant appetite.

Jakande is gone in flesh but his works speak on in eloquence and I want to join you the celebrants to call on the current state government not only to continue on its own commendable housing policy of simultaneously addressing the housing needs of the low, middle and affluent citizens at the same time, but to also intensify efforts to maintain and sustain the Jakande estates and the infrastructures therein, so that they do not go to ruin due to negligence and lack of maintenance.

I thank the organisers on this happy occasion, and I wish the state continuing innovation and progress as a centre of excellence and 21st century smart city

-Osiyemi writes from Ilupeju, Lagos.