Ahead of the final burial rites of American civil rights leader Jesse Louis Jackson, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sent a five-member delegation to represent Nigeria at the funeral.
Persecondnews recalls that Rev Jesse Jackson, a renowned activist and former U.S. presidential candidate, died in the early hours of February 17, 2026, in Chicago, United States, at the age of 84.
According to a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the delegation, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, will deliver President Tinubu’s message of condolences to the Jackson family.
Other members include 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, Sola Enikanolaye.
In an earlier tribute, President Tinubu described 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,” the President said.
Persecondnews reported that the burial programme for Jackson began on February 26 with a lying-in-state at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters in Chicago.
Further services are scheduled in South Carolina and Washington, D.C. between March 1 and March 5.
A “People’s Celebration” will take place on March 6 at the House of Hope Church Chicago, while a private homegoing service will be held on March 7 at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago.
Jesse Jackson a towering figure in the American civil rights movement, spent decades advocating racial equality, economic justice and global human rights.
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