Buhari, Others Pay Last Respect To Benin’s Kerekou

President Muhammadu Buhari pays his last respects to the remains of former President Mathieu Kerekou, during the late leader’s funeral service at the Stade de L’amitie (the Friendship Stadium) in Cotonou, Benin Republic yesterday.

President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday in Cotonou that late President Mathieu Kerekou of Benin Republic would be long remembered as a father of his nation and founding father of ECOWAS.

Daily Trust report continues:

Presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina, in a statement yesterday, said Buhari was speaking on behalf of other African leaders at the official funeral rites of the late president began with tributes in his honour at the Stade de L’amitie.

Buhari, who was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, described Kerekou as a beloved leader of his people and ardent advocate of international cooperation that would be greatly missed within and outside Benin Republic.

President Buhari said: “We recall that in pursuance of his commitment to peace, stability and progress in his country, General Kerekou voluntarily established the political framework for the return of Benin Republic to democratic governance in the 1990s.

“His two democratic mandates from 1996 to 2006 underscored the ardent love his people had for him as a great leader and that period witnessed great democratic freedom that continues to exist today, as the foundation for lasting peace and stability in Benin Republic.”