- Safiu Kehinde
President Bola Tinubu is set to leave Abuja on Tuesday for Lagos to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
This was announced in a statement issued on Monday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, the ECOWAS golden jubilee was flagged off in Accra last month.
Its celebration in Lagos will however include reenacting the 1975 declaration at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Victoria Island.
The event, which is slated to hold at the Eko Hotels and Suites event, will see Tinubu, the Chairman of ECOWAS, highlight the economic bloc’s milestones.
Also slated to review the bloc’s 50-year journey, is Chairman of the NIIA and former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi.
The only surviving Head of State who signed the ECOWAS declaration, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), will also participate in all the ceremonies and deliver a speech at the Eko Hotels.
Dr Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, will deliver the welcome address.
While in Lagos, President Tinubu, according to Onanuga, will on Saturday commission some projects of the administration.
Among them are Section I of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Lekki Deep Sea Port Tax Credit Concrete Road, the flag-off of Section II of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, and the 7th Axial Road.
The President will also virtually commission Kano-Kanwar-Danja-Hadejiya Section II Road and Yakasai-Zalli Road and flag off the Kano Northern By-pass, Zaria-Hunkuyi-Dabai Section I, Dabai-Kafur Malumfashi, and Malumfashi-Dayi-Yashe-Gidan Mutum Daya Section III.
He will finally observe the Eid-el-Kabir prayers at the State House, Dodan Barracks, before returning to Abuja.