PRESS RELEASES

Jadesola Akande’s Unfinished Business: A Tribute

By Atim Eneida George

May 9, 2008

I first met Professor Jadesola Akande in the visitor’s lobby of the United States Consulate General in Lagos in April 1990.  A State Department Desk Officer covering inter alia human rights and democratization issues, I was on an orientation tour that would take me to 7 African countries. 

I distinctly remember Professor Akande; she represented the Nigerian Association of University Women, a non-governmental organization which received a modest State Department grant to advance voter education.  In response to my queries, Professor Akande assured me that whatever misgivings Nigerians and international stakeholders might have about the then-military regime’s plans to open the political space, she and other Nigerian democrats would use the opportunity to their best advantage.  While our encounter was all too brief, I was impressed by her crystal clear vision, focus and commitment to promoting democratic principles, practices and institutions in Nigeria.

Fast forward 12 years.  Shortly upon returning to Nigeria as Public Affairs Officer, our then-Consul General Robyn Hinson-Jones hosted a small dinner inviting some of Nigeria’s most august men and women.  Our guests were drawn from the arts, diplomacy, law and the media.  I still remember Professor Akande’s words of introduction – “I am an unrepentant feminist.”  With the characteristic wisdom and courage of the crone, it was also Professor Akande who reminded us that while the time was well spent, the hour was late and several of our guests would have to face the uncertainty of night time travel from Ikoyi to the Lagos mainland.

Professor Akande became a mentor, a friend and confidante. I tapped the veritable fount of her wise and incisive mind in my efforts to understand the intricacies of Nigeria.  During the past 5 1/2 years, she opened her heart and her home to me and my family.  It is no secret that I grew to love her.  Indeed, her friendship is one I will continue to treasure for the rest of my days. 

In addition to being a woman of ideas, Professor Akande was also a woman of action.  Arriving late for our 2003 Women’s History Program, Professor Akande told the participants that she had been in the Lagos market explaining the composition and meaning of the ballot to market women.  That is the quintessential Jadesola Akande.
I consider her service to this nation and our world well worth emulating.  That our two paths would cross constitutes part of the rare and precious gift of my sojourn among the most remarkable nation I have been privileged to serve in-- Nigeria. 

The cause of the vulnerable, the marginalized and under-served constitutes Professor Akande’s unfinished business; those of us who knew and loved her must commit ourselves to completing the noble tasks she championed.

The Akande family has approved the content of this Tribute.

Ms. Atim Eneida George is the U.S. Counselor for Public Affairs and the Yeye Araba of Ile Ife.