Former Ghana president, Gowon to attend Awolowo Posthumous birthday’s lecture

As Foundation marks 30th anniversary

The Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, as part of activities to mark the 30th anniversary of its establishment, will hold a public lecture on Sunday, March 6, 2022, to celebrate the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s posthumous birthday.

The lecture, which will appraise the key values needed for the advancement of the African continent, will be chaired by former President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, with former Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon as Special Guest of Honour.

The Executive Director of the foundation, Ambassador (Dr) Olatokunbo Awolọwọ Dosumu, in a statement, yesterday, said the posthumous lecture, titled, “‘Values for Africa’s Development’, will be delivered by Rt. Reverend (Professor) Adedapọ Aṣaju, scholar and former Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University.

The event, which will be conducted virtually via Zoom (Meeting: ID 851 0178 9100; Passcode: 942711) at 6.00pm, will be anchored by Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Senior Special Adviser on Industrialisation to the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Professorial Fellow, United Nations University.

Awolowo-Dosumu explained that while several activities have been planned to celebrate the momentous occasion, the “…aim is to use these events to review our journey so far, in terms of faithfulness to our mission and desired impact, and to reflect on our present realities to appropriately prepare for the journey ahead.”

Explaining how the foundation has successfully promotedg the legacy of the sage, the former ambassador to The Netherlands revealed  that: “The Foundation has, over the years, guarded its independence, non-partisanship and commitment to the promotion of a socially-edifying interaction between policy and scholarship, most jealously. We are convinced that Chief Awolọwọ translated from a partisan politician to a universal ideal the moment he departed from this mortal realm.

“The foundation has sought to actualise its mission-mandate through various outreach programmes including, but not limited to lectures, dialogues, executive leadership seminars, symposia and, more recently, Awo conversations, designed  to provide suitable fora for rational discussion of the ‘great issues of the day’, in order to continue to build upon the ideals that inspired the public and patriotic activities of Chief Awolọwọ. The proceedings and recommendations of most of these programmes are available as publications and/or on our website, www.obafemiawolowofoundation.org.”