President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sent a five-person delegation to represent him and the country at the final burial rites of Rev. Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights leader, activist and former presidential candidate.
Jackson passed away at age 84 on February 17, 2026, in Chicago. Tinubu had while reacting to his demise disclosed that as a student in Chicago in the 1970’s, he had a first-hand experience of how Jackson helped to drive the American dream.
According to a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume will lead the delegation.
Other members are the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; the Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; the Special Presidential Envoy for Global and Pan-African Affairs, Brian Browne; and the Senior Special Assistant, Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye.
The delegation will deliver President Tinubu’s message of condolences to the Jackson family.
In an earlier tribute, President Tinubu described Reverend Jackson as a great friend of Nigeria and Africa.
“He was a moral voice and a formidable resistance to apartheid in South Africa. He played a leading role in the campaign for the release from prison of Nelson Mandela and other African National Congress leaders. He won critical support for sanctions against the then apartheid government,” Tinubu wrote.
The burial programme for the civil rights leader began on February 26, with a lying-in-state at Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago. Services in South Carolina and Washington, D.C., and a lying-in-state at the South Carolina Statehouse were scheduled for March 1-5.
On March 6, a “People’s Celebration” will take place at House of Hope in Chicago, followed by a private homegoing on March 7 at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Top Society recalls that a former Minister of External Affairs, Bolaji Akinyemi, disclosed that the late United States civil rights leader was in the trenches with pro-democracy activists during Nigeria’s June 12 struggle under the maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha.
