Tinubu Sends Delegation To Represent Nigeria At Jesse Jackson’s Burial

President Bola Tinubu has appointed a five-member delegation to represent Nigeria at the final burial rites of Jesse Jackson, the renowned American civil rights leader and former U.S. presidential candidate, who died on February 17, 2026, at the age of 84.

In a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by his special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President announced that Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, would lead the delegation.

Other members of the delegation include Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; Special Presidential Envoy for Global and Pan-African Affairs, Brian Browne; and Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye.

According to the statement, the delegation will deliver President Tinubu’s message of condolences to the Jackson family on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

President Tinubu had earlier described Jackson as “a great friend of Nigeria and Africa,” praising his unwavering stance against apartheid in South Africa. He noted that Jackson was “a moral voice and a formidable resistance to apartheid,” highlighting his role in campaigning for the release of Nelson Mandela and other leaders of the African National Congress, as well as mobilising support for sanctions against the apartheid regime.

Jackson’s burial programme began on February 26, 2026, with a lying-in-state at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago. Additional services were held in South Carolina and Washington, D.C., including a lying-in-state at the South Carolina Statehouse from March 1 to 5.

A “People’s Celebration” is scheduled for March 6 at the House of Hope in Chicago, followed by a private homegoing service on March 7 at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters.

Born and raised in the segregated American South, Jackson rose to national prominence as a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr. and later made two bids for the Democratic presidential nomination. A longtime resident of Chicago, he publicly disclosed in 2017 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.