President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech at the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session has been praised by eminent Nigerians, including Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Olukunle Gbamgbose.
The others were Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to Belgium Alaba Ogunsanwo; ex- High Commissioner to Ghana, Michael Abikoye; former Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) President Olisa Agbakoba (SAN); Director-General, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) Eghosa Osaghae; and NIIA’s Acting Director of Research and Studies, Efem Ubi
They said yesterday that it was worthy of note that Tinubu’s statement touched on issues of economic development, security, climate change, energy, poverty, sustenance of democracy in Africa and how to accelerate global prosperity through shared efforts.
According to them, in the history of UNGA, no President who spoke for Africa ever asserted that Africans were not beggars but equal partners in global relationships.
While Sanwo-Olu noted that the speech affirmed democracy as the best form of government, Gbamgbose said the President’s performance at the global event showed that a new Sheriff had emerged in Africa.
The governor told reporters in New York that it was gladdening that the President proffered a solution to coups in some parts of Africa.
He said: “It (speech) set the tone for Nigeria to stake its own space in a global arena like in the United Nations, but also be able to project that, yes, everything is not perfect with us here but we are on a path of economic recovery.
“We are on the path of ensuring that the renaissance of Africa is not lost and that the world should be able to carry Africa along and let us, indeed, give Africa its fair share, its fair place in global politics and in the economic agenda of the world.
“He was also able to analyse the issues concerning Africa, West Africa and Nigeria.
“I believe, being his first outing, he demonstrated that Nigerians have actually chosen well, to be present at this point in time.
“He (Tinubu) was not only defining what the role Nigeria will play, but was also putting Africa on the world map in expressing that even with global challenges, that the entire world needs to be able to listen and watch the opportunities that abound in Africa,”
“I believe it was a very credible outing for him.”
In a statement by the Foreign Affairs ministry, Ambassador Gbamgbose said the speech by the President was powerful and incisive.
He said: The speech is very comprehensive and pan-African in nature. He spoke like the President of Africa. His statement tried to put Africa on the same pedestal as the developed countries. The idea for them to see African countries as development partners rather than underdogs was very much underscored in his statement. I have no doubt that the statement was well received. Definitely, a new Sheriff is in town.”
Also, Ogunsanwo, a professor of International Relations, said he was sure the President felt elated by his performance at the global event.
His words: “President Tinubu’s speech was very well written. Kudos to Nigeria’s Mission to the United Nations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency for putting together a commendable statement.
“Of course, such a speech must reflect the general direction the President wished to go and some specific points and issues he considered important. All those were taken care of in the speech. I am sure the President felt satisfied with the outing.”
“Africa has only itself to blame if it fails to build upon the significant policy speech delivered by President Tinubu at the United Nations General Assembly.”
Ambassador Abikoye gave a thumb up to the President for the big brother role by delivering a well-received speech on behalf of Africa.
He said, “I went through the speech line by line. It was a well-written speech and well-delivered. It brought out all the issues that concern Nigeria from climate change to the rest.
The president’s Big Brother role was also endearing. The speech was well delivered and also well received.”
Prof. Osaghae of the NIIA noted that the speech addressed all the important issues that are of concern to Nigeria. He listed the issues as economic development, economic growth, security, climate change, energy, poverty, and how to accelerate global prosperity through shared efforts.
His words: “I think it had a very strong message to two areas. First, the President extended the frontiers of Nigeria’s interests to West Africa and Africa and therefore demonstrated a high level of Nigeria’s efficacy as a leader of the Global South.
“Secondly, the points highlighted by the President resonated well with the speeches by other African Global South leaders, particularly the address by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and he could see that there’s a Global South voice. It is at the vanguard of saying we need to reform the present global order. “
Ubi also noted that the President’s speech touched on everything that is affecting not just Nigeria but Africa as a whole.
He said: “I like the speech very much, especially where he talked about the economic problems challenging Africa with regards to the lack of equity, parity and equality in international economic relations.
“The speech is a great one when you compare it to those of other leaders.
“I can say that our speech has a great focus and he hit the nail on the head.”
