President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has constituted a five-member delegation to represent him and Nigeria at the final burial rites of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights icon, activist, and former presidential candidate.
In a statement issued om Wednesday by the Presidential Spokesperson, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the delegation is expected to convey President Tinubu’s message of condolences to the Jackson family.
The delegation is led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.
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.
In a tribute issued earlier, 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”, President 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.
Jackson passed away at age 84 on February 17, 2026, in Chicago.