Report by Bello Wakili; Editing by Basirat Memudu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will on Tuesday depart Abuja for Lagos to participate in the 50th anniversary celebration of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
According to the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Lagos events will mark the continuation of the ECOWAS golden jubilee, which was flagged off in Accra last month.
“The celebrations will include a reenactment of the 1975 ECOWAS declaration at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island,” he said.
President Tinubu, who is the current Chairman of ECOWAS, will deliver a keynote address at a special event hosted at the Eko Hotels and Suites, where he will reflect on the achievements and challenges of the regional bloc over the past five decades.
The Chairman of the NIIA and former Minister of External Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, is expected to give a comprehensive review of ECOWAS’s 50-year journey, which will be further analysed by a panel of experts at the NIIA.
Also billed to speak at the event is General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), the only surviving Head of State who signed the original ECOWAS declaration.
He will participate in all the commemorative activities and deliver a goodwill message.
President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, will deliver the welcome address at the gathering.
While in Lagos, President Tinubu will also commission several federal infrastructure projects on Saturday, May 31.
These include Section I of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Lekki Deep Sea Port Tax Credit Concrete Road, and the flag-off of Section II of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the 7th Axial Road.
The President will also virtually commission the Kano-Kwanar-Danja-Hadejia Section II Road and the Yakasai-Zalli Road.
He will flag off the Kano Northern Bypass, Zaria-Hunkuyi-Dabai Section I, Dabai-Kafur-Malumfashi, and the Malumfashi-Dayi-Yashe-Gidan Mutum Daya Section III.
President Tinubu is expected to observe the Eid-el-Kabir prayers at the State House Mosque in Dodan Barracks, Lagos, before returning to Abuja.
