TINUBU SENDS FIVE-PERSON DELEGATION TO ATTEND JESSE JACKSON’S BURIAL

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dispatched a five-person delegation to represent him and the nation at the final burial rites of Reverend Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights leader, activist and former presidential candidate who passed away at age 84 on February 17, 2026, in Chicago.

In a statement, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, announced that Senator George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, will lead the delegation.

Other members of the delegation 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 on Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye.

The delegation is tasked with delivering 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, stating, “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.”

Onanuga detailed that the burial programme for the civil rights leader began on February 26 with a lying-in-state at the 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 the House of Hope in Chicago, followed by a private homegoing ceremony on March 7 at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.