By Abiola Olawale
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is departing Abuja for Lagos State on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, to spearhead the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional bloc founded in 1975 to foster economic integration and stability across West Africa.
As the current Chairman of ECOWAS, a position he has held since July 2023, Tinubu will join other regional leaders to commemorate this milestone, reflecting on the bloc’s achievements over the past five decades.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, the celebrations, which began last month in Accra, Ghana, will feature a re-enactment of the 1975 ECOWAS declaration at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Victoria Island.
The event will also include a review of the bloc’s journey by renowned Nigerian International relations scholar and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi. This will be immediately followed by a panel discussion analyzing its impact.
Another notable highlight of the planned programme will be the participation of Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), the only surviving Head of State who signed the original ECOWAS declaration.
Gowon is also expected to deliver a key speech at the Eko Hotels event while Dr. Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, will give the welcome address.
The statement reads in part: “The Chairman of the NIIA and former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, will review the bloc’s 50-year journey, which panellists at the NIIA will later analyse.
“The only surviving Head of State who signed the ECOWAS declaration, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), will 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 will, on Saturday, May 31, 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 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.
“President Tinubu will observe the Eid-el-Kabir prayers at the State House, Dodan Barracks, before returning to Abuja.”
