President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is set to depart Abuja on Tuesday for Lagos to join in marking the 50th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The golden jubilee celebration of the regional body began in Accra last month, and Lagos will now host a significant segment of the commemoration.
According to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the Lagos event will include a symbolic reenactment of the 1975 founding declaration at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island.
“President Tinubu, as the Chairman of ECOWAS, will highlight the economic bloc’s milestones,” Onanuga said in a statement.
Also on the programme, the Chairman of the NIIA and former Minister of External Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, will deliver a comprehensive review of ECOWAS’s five-decade history.
Panelists at the NIIA will further discuss the institution’s trajectory and achievements.
General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), the only surviving Head of State who signed the original ECOWAS declaration, is expected to attend all scheduled activities and deliver a keynote speech at the Eko Hotels.
Dr. Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, will present the welcome address at the event.
President Tinubu’s visit to Lagos will also see him commission several key 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, as well as the 7th Axial Road.
The President will also commission projects virtually, including the Kano-Kanwar-Danja-Hadejiya Section II Road and the Yakasai-Zalli Road.
He will flag off other road developments such as 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, Dodan Barracks, before returning to Abuja.
