Tinubu sends delegation to attend Jesse Jackson’s burial
…Akume leads five-member team to Chicago President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has constituted a five-member delegation to represent him and Nigeria at the final burial rites of American civil rights icon,
...Akume leads five-member team to Chicago
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has constituted a five-member delegation to represent him and Nigeria at the final burial rites of American civil rights icon, Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Jackson, a renowned activist, preacher and former United States presidential candidate, died on February 17, 2026, in Chicago at the age of 84.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, will lead the Nigerian delegation to the burial events.
Other members of the delegation include the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; the Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; the Special Presidential Envoy for Global and Pan-African Affairs, Mr Brian Browne; and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye.
The delegation is expected to convey President Tinubu’s message of condolences to the family of the late civil rights leader.
In an earlier tribute, the President described Jackson as a steadfast ally of Nigeria and Africa, whose lifelong advocacy for justice and equality resonated across the continent.
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Tinubu noted that the late activist was a strong moral voice against racial injustice and a prominent supporter of the anti-apartheid struggle in South 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,” the President said.
The burial programme for Jackson began on February 26 with a lying-in-state ceremony at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters in Chicago.
Memorial services have also been scheduled in South Carolina and Washington, D.C., between March 1 and March 5, including a lying-in-state at the South Carolina Statehouse.
A public “People’s Celebration” will take place on March 6 at the House of Hope in Chicago, while a private homegoing service for family members and close associates is scheduled for March 7 at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
