West Africa has paid glowing tribute to 15 former Heads of State, including the late General I.K. Acheampong of Ghana, who led the formation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) four decades ago.
At a gathering in Abuja, Nigeria, yestersday to mark 40 years of the formation of the regional bloc, speaker after another hailed the vision of the founding fathers for spearheading the birth of the progressive regional body.
The other founders included Lt Col Mathieu Kereku, former head of state of Dahomey (now Benin); Gen. Sangoula Lamizana, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso); Mr Felix Houghet Boigny, Cote d'Ivoire: Sir Dauda Jawara, The Gambia; Mr Ahmed Sekou Toure, Guinea; Dr Luis De Alimeides Cabral, Guinea Bissau, and Dr William R. Tolbert, Liberia.
The rest were Mr Moctar Ould Daddah, Mauritania; Moussa Traore, Mali; Lt Col Senyi Kountche, Niger; Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria; Mr Leopold Senghor, Senegal; Dr Siaka Stephens, Sierra Leone and Gen.