Fondly called
Baba Kekere,
Jakande was the governor of Lagos State from 1979 to 1983 on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
He later became Minister of Works during the
Sani Abacha military regime between 1993 and 1998.
Jakande, who was also a veteran journalist, was born in Epetedo Area of Lagos State on July 23, 1923, to parents from Omu-Aran in Kwara.
He studied at Lagos Public School at Enu-Owa, Lagos Island, then at Burnham Memorial Methodist School, Port Harcourt from 1934 to 1943.
He also studied at King s College, Lagos in 1943 and then went to Ilesa Grammar School in 1945 where he edited a Literary Paper called the ‘Quarterly Mirror’.