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Senator Fatimat Raji Rasaki, representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, has called on the Federal Government to rename the National Assembly complex as Shehu Shagari National Assembly Complex.
In a release made available to newsmen in Abuja, Senator Rasaki said the late former President deserves to be immortalised with a prominent national monument in Abuja and not in any local area or region.
Rasaki, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, said it should not be forgetten that Shagari contributed massively to the metamorphosis of Abuja from a mere Master- Plan project of the Late Murtala Muhammed to a grand reality of being the official and functional Federal Capital Territory.
She continued: “We should also not forget in a hurry how Alhaji Shagari empowered his vice-president, the late Architect Alex Ekuweme to see to the strict and precise construction of Abuja according to the Master Plan.”
“Or how can we forget in a hurry, when he, Alhaji Shagari, as the President, recorded the hosting of the first national celebration in Abuja before his tenure was terminated?
“It’ll be a sin against the nation, posterity, altruistic service and even the spirit of Shagari, if we could not find a notable monument in Abuja to name after the first president who held the first national celebration in Abuja; who ensured the building of a firm foundation of Abuja and who formally made Abuja a functional Federal Capital of Nigeria”
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