#JakandeAt90: Serving Lagos best gift God gave me

Elder statesman and first civilian governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, who will be 90 years old tomorrow (Tuesday),  has said the best gift he earned from God was the opportunity to serve people of Lagos.

Jakande, who was governor of Lagos State between 1979 and 1983 when the military coup that brought then General Muhammadu Buhari to power as head of state, said this on Monday while speaking with newsmen at his Ilupeju residence,  even as he expressed appreciation to God for sparing his life to reach the age of 90.

The former governor also thanked God for making it possible for him to serve Lagos in that capacity, saying that serving Lagos had always been his priority.

“I thank God for giving me the opportunity to serve Lagos. No better gift will one have than the opportunity to serve my people. I thank God for that,” he said.

Jakande advised young politicians to make up their mind to serve, just as he said they had to be educated to get ready to serve.

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Speaking further, Jakande, who was also a former minister, applauded successive civilian governments that came after him, saying they really served Lagos and kept the vision he had for the state.

According to him, his success in Lagos State was because of the programmes he introduced which had the acceptance of Lagosians.

He described the development of Lagos State in recent time as very commendable, saying that “those who came after me have done very well.”

Jakande, while commending the government of the incumbent, Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu for starting on a good note, expressed the hope that the governor would further sustain the tempo in the development of Lagos that he and other governments had started.