Jakande Administration Remains Best In Nigeria, Says Alhaji Tolani Abbas

A former higher executive officer in Lagos State, Alhaji Tolani Abbas, has said no administration or military regime whether at the state or federal level can surpass the accomplishment of former governor of the state, Alhaji Lateef jakande.

Jakande was the governor of Lagos state during the second republic between 1979 and 1983 but was ousted after a military coup of General Muhammadu Buhari in 1985 which brought the republic to a hasty end.

Alhaji Abbas who was also a tax administrator in the old Western region in the early 60s said despite the dearth of finances, Jakande was able to do so much with so little for so many, adding that not elected leader or military junta has been able to replicate his accomplishments nearly forty years after he left office as a governor.

Also read: Alhaji Tolani Abbas: Celebrating An Icon At 80.

Alhaji Abbas made the assertion in an interview with EkoHotBlog on the sidelines of activities scheduled to mark his 80th Birthday on May 28, 2020.

Asked to compare the Jakande government and subsequent ones in Lagos He said “it is the best, you can imagine the housing scheme, no government has ever achieved the feat, can you calculate the number of buildings and estates jakande built, even the federal government could not match his leadership acumen, his activities were sort of challenge to the federal government

“He was visionary leader, he foresaw the challenges of vehicular congestion in Lagos and was to build a metro line to solve the imminent challenge but this same Buhari came into power through military junta and canceled the lofty project. The third mainland bridge was conceived by his administration and the amount he budgeted for it was way lesser than the amount the military spent on the project

“Talk of education, before he came in they used to have three school sessions, some will resume by 8 and close by 1, then another will resume by 2 and close by 4, then another from 4 to 6. In less than 6 months he brought everything down to morning session only. He created school here and there, he wasn’t looking for beautiful buildings all you need is just a shelter on your head to learn.

“he was not building those shelter for the future, but for you to have something to learn under at the time and with time the government will improve on it, it was these structure that subsequent administration leveraged on, his policy then was that you must not move one or two kilometers for you to receive formal education and he achieved it because there were a lot of contracts for us, we were building benches and desk and other learning facilities

On how he moved up the rank from being a clerk to the position of high executive amid military interregnum and civilian government, he said “upon the creation of Lagos state in 1967, I was transferred to Lagos from Ibadan where I worked as tax officer enforcing the pay as you earn (PAYE) system of the old western regional, so as an Indigene of Lagos created from the western region I was transferred to Lagos

“I became a high executive in Lagos, in those days a small room could oversee the affairs of a ministry, our ministry was housed in a small office in city mall then, I was in the ministry of the home affair,” he said.

On the comparison between the western region and state government, he said the two could not compare in scope and style, adding that the former oversaw a large entity that now comprised the six states of the southwest — Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, and Ogun. He noted that the Ikeja general hospital was established by the western. He noted that the enclave of the region extended to Idi Oro In Mushin.

“The place is known as Lagos then, before 1967, was only the island, and that was the capital. In the western region there was only one Premier, only one commissioner to a ministry and they are doing better than what’s being done now, the only thing you get now is mere infrastructure, but when you talk of health and agriculture it was better then than now, what we have now are just beautiful buildings here and there, the road they are building now is not better than the ones built during the Western region, talk about the eastern region, you can eastern region under Azikwe to what we have now” he said

On why he left the service to pursue personal aspirations “In 1977 there was a proposal for the creation of new capital in Abuja, so I thought to myself, having risen to the position of high executive officer, I’ve just two positions ahead of me to end my career — senior executive officer, chief executive officer — so I opted out of the service to find my way in the business. And they introduced something then that once you are ten years into the service you can retire, the only clause being that you will not be eligible for pension till you’re 40 years of age, so I decided to retire. I was 37 then so I left

“I went into contract collections, supply of foodstuff to hotels, Eko hotel, Federal Palace Hotel, supplying food for NYSC orientation camps, there were a lot of jobs to do then. Then during the time of jakande I got all sort of petty contracts, drainages, benches for school, construction of schools, my company was the general company and had many people working for me so gathered my experience on the job, as a result of this I was supervising buildings

Asked if running a company was lucrative than being in the service, he said “what actually happened was that there was a friend of mine who came around to supply us things, toilet rolls, and others and he was doing well, and he was doing well, and I discovered that what this guy is making is more than what I earn in a year, why don’t I opt out too and be roaming about and I did”