PJ Patterson acknowledges that he will get visits and phone calls today — his 90th birthday. But the former Jamaican prime minister says the celebration of this momentous milestone will take place on Saturday at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona campus, St Andrew.

The salute to Jamaica’s sixth chief executive and longest-serving head of Government, from 1992 to 2006, will include the unveiling of the pan-Africanist mural at the PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean Advocacy where, since his retirement in March 2006, he has been active as statesman in residence.

The unveiling of the mural is most fitting, given Patterson’s reputation as a pan-Africanist respected for his strong advocacy of African-Caribbean relations.

Born April 10, 1935 to farmer Henry Patterson and schoolteacher Ina James, PJ Patterson grew up in Hanover but attended Somerton Primary School in St James. He won a Purscell Trust Scholarship to Calabar High School, from which he graduated in 1953 and then entered the then University College of the West Indies (now The UWI), graduating in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree (Honours) in English.

He studied law at London School of Economics and was awarded the Leverhume Scholarship and the Sir Hughes Parry prize for Excellence in the Law of Contracts.

In 1963 he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, was called to the Bar at Middle Temple, and was also admitted to the Jamaican Bar.

Patterson eventually joined the People’s National Party (PNP), rising steadily through the ranks, gaining valuable experience that made him one of the best political organisers in the country.

During a sitting of both Houses of Parliament on March 28, 2006, then Opposition Leader Bruce Golding said that Patterson’s contribution to Jamaica was to be measured in the difference he was able to make and the extent to which he shaped the future of the country, while pointing to his involvement in international trade negotiations, starting with the Lomé convention, the African Caribbean and Pacific/European Union (ACP/EU) partnership agreements, and other bilateral agreements.

Golding also said Patterson was to be credited for the many significant projects, structures, and programmes instituted under his watch as well as his role in removing some of the ugly tendencies which characterised Jamaican politics over the years.

“Whatever criticisms that have been made of him in the past and whatever may be made in the future as his legacy is scrutinised and analysed, no one can question his commitment to his country, his love for the Jamaican people, or the sincerity of his intentions,” Golding said.

On Tuesday this week, when the Jamaica Observer spoke with Patterson, he said he intended to spend his 90th birthday having “as quiet a day as is possible” at his home in St Andrew.

“I know people will pass through, I can’t stop that, but…whether I like it or not, the 90th is the 90th and I couldn’t escape anything, so we had to find a reasonable location and we decided eventually on our space at the institute…so the celebration will be on Saturday,” he said.