LASU renames longest road on campus after Jakande

The longest road at the Lagos State University (LASU) has been renamed Dr. Lateef Kayode Jakande Road. The road stretches from LASU main gate, through the Eyo masquerade junction, to the Faculty of Management and the students’ hostel at the extreme.

The honour was done to the patriarch as part of celebrations to mark his 90th birthday. Jakande was the first civilian governor of Lagos.

Jakande, it would be recalled, as Lagos governor, mooted the LASU initiative in 1981. The university eventually kicked off in 1983 after necessary procedures had been fine-tuned.

The commissioning was preceded by a lecture courtesy of the university’s Faculty of Arts.
It was themed: ‘Lateef Kayode Jakande: A phenomenon of administration‘.

Speaking at LASU main auditorium, the guest speaker, Prof. Hakeem Danmole from Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, said no government in Lagos State has been able to touch the lives of the people in a short period like Jakande.

Describing Jakande as a ‘man of integrity and honesty’, Danmole reiterated that the former governor’s achievements are yet to be equaled, and urged authorities in Lagos to toe his legacies.

He said: “Governors have ruled in Lagos State yet we can say it anywhere that no government has been able to touch the lives of our people like Alhaji Jakande has done. He was fit enough to become the governor back then because he worked in Lagos unlike the accidental leaders we have everywhere.

“Jakande knew every part of the state and worked started immediately he assumed office. I describe him as a man of integrity if not, he wouldn’t have achieved all these greatness. Only few politicians have that integrity today.

“We know what Lagos used to be back then before his emergence as governor. Isolo was not connected to Ijegun, Iba was not connected to LASU, Victoria Island was not connected to Epe and others like that. And in four years after achieving all that, he did not name anything after himself. I will advise the Lagos State government and other politicians to emulate him and learn to study what Jakande has done.”

Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, said Jakande epitomises what public servant should represent. One of Jakande’s friends and confidants, Adekunle Ali, described the celebrant as a reference point in contemporary Nigeria politics.

He said: “Nobody can discuss modern politics in Nigeria without making a reference to his period. For only 51 months, Jakande achieved all he did by transforming everything for good and bringing this institution to existence.”