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Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar and former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan are set to grace the launch of the Cancer Centre of Mrs Goldcoast Dickson, the late mother of Bayelsa State Governor Henry Seriake Dickson.
The event will also include a memorial service as well as a formal presentation of the Henry Seriake Dickson Foundation on Thursday, August 8, 2019.
The late Mrs Goldcoast died of Lung Cancer on August 8, 2018, at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas, United States of America, seven months after being diagnosed of the ailments.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Relations, Mr Fidelis Soriwei, said in a statement at the weekend that the memorial service scheduled to take place at the country home of the Dicksons, Toru Orua, Sagbama Local Government Area, would be followed by a formal presentation and launch of the Henry Seriake Dickson Foundation.
He said that HSD Foundation was being set up by the Governor in fulfillment of his promise to raise a cancer awareness centre, the Goldcoast Dickson Cancer Centre, to tackle the scourge of cancer in Niger Delta communities and other parts of the country.
Soriwei said that the Cancer Centre would render the invaluable service of spearheading a well-coordinated action against the killer disease, especially through early detection, treatment and dialysis.
According to him, the GDMC would collaborate effectively with universities such as the Brown Cancer Centre, the American Hospital, Dubai, and their local counterparts like Niger Delta University, Bayelsa Medical University, University òf Africa, and the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, through partnership pacts signed with them.
He said that the Dickson family would also carry out a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the commencement of the construction of the Cancer Centre deliberately designed to be the most resourceful Centre against the endemic nature of cancer in the society.
He stated further that dignitaries would plant trees in honour of loved ones who died of cancer with their names ascribed on the trees as part of the efforts to create the requisite awareness about the disease.
Soriwei said that the event would hold under the chairmanship of Abubakar, while Obasanjo and Jonathan are Special Guests of Honour
He stated further that the President of Senate, Ahmed Lawan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic, Prince Uche Secondus, his All Progressives Congress Counterpart, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum, Dr, Kayode Fayemi, all governors, the Chairman of Progressive Governors Forum, Abubakar Bagudu, members of the National Assembly, members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, the business community, academics, the international community, traditional rulers and the public would be at the event.
He added that the Amayanabo of Twon Brass, King Alfred Diete Spiff and Hajia Maryam Abacha would be father and mother of the day, respectively.
