President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja on Tuesday for Lagos as part of activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The Lagos event forms a critical segment of the regional bloc’s golden jubilee celebrations, which began with a formal launch in Accra, Ghana, last month.
According to the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the Lagos leg of the celebration will feature a reenactment of the original 1975 ECOWAS declaration.
This symbolic ceremony will take place at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, where the bloc’s founding vision will be revisited.
President Tinubu, who currently serves as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, is expected to deliver a keynote address at Eko Hotels and Suites.
His remarks will focus on the bloc’s economic integration milestones, regional security cooperation and development strategies over the past five decades.
Also scheduled to speak is the only surviving Head of State who signed the ECOWAS founding treaty in 1975, former Nigerian Head of State General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), who will participate in all commemorative events.
His involvement underlines the historical significance of the anniversary.
Other key participants include Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, former Minister of External Affairs and Chairman of the NIIA Governing Council, who will lead a comprehensive review of ECOWAS’s 50-year trajectory.
A panel discussion will follow with contributions from regional policy experts and diplomatic stakeholders.
Dr Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, is scheduled to deliver the welcome address, setting the tone for a series of reflections on regional cooperation, institutional reform, and development financing in West Africa.
Beyond the commemorative events, President Tinubu will use the Lagos visit to commission multiple high-impact infrastructure projects executed under his administration. 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 Highway and the 7th Axial Road.
Additionally, the President will virtually commission strategic roads in Northern Nigeria, including the Kano-Kanwar-Danja-Hadejiya Section II Road, Yakasai-Zalli Road, and the flag-off of the Kano Northern Bypass. Other virtual commissioning projects include Zaria-Hunkuyi-Dabai Section I, Dabai-Kafur-Malumfashi Road, and Malumfashi-Dayi-Yashe-Gidan Mutum Daya Section III.
These projects, according to the Presidency, are aligned with the administration’s national infrastructure development plan, focused on improving inter-regional trade, connectivity and logistics.
President Tinubu is also expected to observe the Eid-el-Kabir prayers at the State House, Dodan Barracks, Lagos, before returning to Abuja.
The commemorative and commissioning events come at a time when regional and national integration priorities remain central to President Tinubu’s administration and Nigeria’s foreign policy engagement under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
