' My father created Banana Island but has no single land there '- Son of Late Lateef Jakande

Mr. Seyi Jakande, the son of Nigerian Journalist and Former Governor of Lagos State, Late Lateef Jakande has revealed that their family had no single piece of land on Banana Island, a location in the State, despite being the mastermind of the development.

Photo File: Late Jakande

He recently made this known during a Memorial lecture held in honour of his late father whom he described as a ‘ selfless man ‘.

Speaking during the programme, Seyi said: ” In the years that Alhaji Jakande served as governor of Lagos, he did not allocate or give anything to either his wife or son with all that he did. People even questioned if he had a wife or children; his wife stayed with him at the Ilupeju residence. At a time, I asked my dad that from inception as governor, he said there was no money in Lagos and he built schools and houses. When he was the Minister of Works, they came up with the idea of the Banana Island, took advantage of the waterways, filled them up, sold them to the rich, then generated money and subsidised the housing scheme. Baba started Banana Island, created it, filled it up and not even a portion of sand was allocated to his beloved wife or any member of his family “.

Culled from Punch

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