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Tag: UNGA

  • Buhari departs New York after eventful 73rd UNGA

    President Muhammadu Buhari has departed New York for Nigeria on Saturday afternoon after his participation at the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which officially opened on Sept. 18.

    Buhari, in the company of his wife, Aisha, was seen off by a large entourage including the Director-General of National Intelligence Agency Ahmed Abubakar, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Amb. Babagana Kingibe, Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, and Edo Governor Godwin Obaseki.

    Buhari arrived in New York on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018 for the gathering of the world leaders.

    The theme for this year’s Session is: ‘Making the United Nations relevant to all People: Global Leadership and Shared Responsibilities for Peaceful, Equitable and Sustainable Societies’.

    The highpoint of Buhari’s participation was his address on Tuesday to the General Assembly on the opening day of the General Debate.

    The president, in his presentation of Nigeria’s National Statement, sought global cooperation on security, anti-corruption, irregular migration, climate change, and UN reforms, among others.

    Buhari and his wife, Aisha, also attended a welcome reception hosted by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his spouse for Heads of State and Government and their spouses.

    The president and his delegation attended the high-level ‘Mandela Peace Meeting on Global Peace’ in honour of the centenary birth of late South African President Nelson Mandela.

    The Nigerian delegation also participated in a high-level meeting on the ‘Fight against Tuberculosis’ organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as Nigeria currently ranks seventh amongst the high TB-burden countries globally, and second in Africa, where Mrs Buhari also delivered a statement.

    The Nigerian delegation attended a high-level meeting on financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit.

    Others are the ‘Second Annual Bloomberg Global Business Forum, high-level Meeting on Action for Peace-Keeping’; ‘Commemoration and Promotion of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons’, high-level meeting on the ‘Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa’, and ‘Pathway to Localising a Global Agenda’.

    During the course of his stay in New York, Buhari had bilateral meetings with many African and world leaders including Bill Gates with a view to promoting national and African interests.’’

    President Buhari also had interactive session with a selected group of Nigerian professionals based in the United States and Canada.

    Others in the president’s entourage were Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, that of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole, Industry, Trade and Investment counterpart Okechukwu Enelamah, that of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma and Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jibrin.

    Nigeria’s ambassador to the U.S. retired Justice Sylvanus Nsofor, Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service Mohammad Babandede, and Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Ibrahim Magu and a host of other chief executive officers and aides were also on the presidential entourage. (NAN)

  • UN assembly: Nigerian youths call for action on global education

    Two Nigerian education campaigners Omotoke Olowo and Gideon Olanrewaju have canvassed for actions on global education, asking world leaders on their plans to get the world’s 260 million out of school children in to education.

    Olowo, CEO of Autism Awareness, and Olanrewaju, founder of Aid for Rural Education Access, made the call at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City, where they attended the UNGA as part of education charity Theirworld’s #WritetheWrongCampaign.

    The duo attended high-level meetings alongside business executives and dignitaries such as Amina Mohammed, Gordon Brown and Graca Machel. At a meeting hosted by the Global Business Coalition for Education, Olanrewaju warned world leaders that: “young people would hold them accountable for concrete actions to move education forward.”

    Olowo on her part praised Gordon and Sarah Brown for being passionate about helping children and young people get the education they need to live independent lives.

    “What impressed me most was their commitment to marginalised children and those with learning disabilities who have previously been forgotten in the global education debate,” she said.

    She went further to say that the higher costs involved in supporting children with special educational needs is a barrier for many governments.

    “I hope the increased funding for global education that charities such as Theirworldand Save the Childrenare calling for will be used to support every child to get an education,” Olowo submitted.

    According to UNESCO, increased financing is essential to close the annual funding gap needed to support global education that low and middle-income countries face. The proposed International Finance Facility for Education (IFFED) aims to generate $10 billion dollars for education by using donor guarantees to leverage lending from multilateral banks.

    Despite significant advances in education across the globe, experts argue that over a quarter of a billion of children are out of school – 1 in 5 children don’t have a basic education.

    Sarah Brown, Theirworld President, said: “Many people are simply not aware of the scale of this crisis. Children out of school face a dire future of exploitation, child labour and early marriage. If leaders fail to act now an entire generation will miss out on an education.”

    The #WritetheWrong campaign aims to tackle the growing global education crisis, The Nation learnt.

  • Buhari seeks World Bank, IMF, support on repatriation of stolen assets

    President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that he has enlisted the support of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), world security agencies and friendly nations to locate, recover and assist in repatriating stolen assets.

    He made the revelation on Wednesday in New York as he called on Africans in the Diaspora to come up with suggestions on how to curtail the menace of corruption on the continent.

    Buhari was addressing participants at the High Level Media Launch on “Illicit Financial Flows and the Fight against Corruption: Curbing the Existence of Safe Havens, the Role of Africans in the Fight against Corruption,” organised by the NEPAD/APRM Nigeria on the sideline of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

    The President, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, also enjoined them to support measures against “Safe Havens” for illicit financial outflows from Africa.

    He told the audience that he had “enlisted the support of multi-lateral institutions like the World Bank, IMF, Security Agencies, and friendly nations to locate and recover and help repatriate stolen assets.”

    Describing corruption as a “cancer” which required global efforts to contain, President Buhari recalled that the negative impact of corruption on the continent informed the “resolve of African Heads of State and Government to remain committed to the fight against corruption,” and the declaration of 2018, as the African year of combating corruption with the overriding theme: Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.

    Expressing appreciation to his fellow African leaders for the honour bestowed on him as the African Union Anti–Corruption Champion to lead the continental War Against Corruption in 2018 and beyond, the President noted that the change agenda of his administration “has overhauled, revitalized as well as institutionalized the machinery for an out and out fight against corruption and its agents, with a particular focus on illicit financial flows.”

    Read Also: FG will win war against corruption – Buhari

    While acknowledging that the social and economic costs of corruption and illicit financial flows are massive, and have continued to stunt the development of Africa, he cited a 2015 study by an African Union Panel led by Thabo Mbeki which estimated US$50 Billion illicit financial flows out of the continent every year.

    He said, “According to the report, about US$2.5billion of the US$50billion of Illicit Financial Flows was in respect of commercial activities. It is obvious that the continent still battles with grand corruption at the highest level, with Safe Havens, opaque systems in many recipient countries and the outright willingness of some advanced countries to harbour stolen funds from Africa.”

    Listing some of the negative impact of illicit financial flows out of the continent to include draining of foreign exchange reserves, reduction of tax/revenue collection, poor investment inflows and escalation of poverty, the President noted that these “nefarious practices are being perpetrated by some of the 60 international tax havens and secret jurisdictions with thousands of disguised corporations, shell companies, anonymous trust accounts, fake charitable foundations, money laundering and transfer pricing mechanisms.”

    He said that efforts were now being made by African leaders to checkmate these ills and ensure greater transparency and accountability in government business.

    He said, “One of the measures necessary if we are to make any headway is to bring in laws, regulations and policies that encourage transparent financial transactions, as well as implementing measures that would mitigate the incentives that facilitate illegal outflows from the continent.”

    He recalled that during the January 2018 AU Summit, he pledged to “organise African Youth Congresses against Corruption, in order to sensitise and engage our youth in the fight against corruption; mobilise African Union Member States to implement African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption; and advocate for the strengthening of the criminal justice system across Africa through exchange of information and sharing best practices in the enforcement of anti-corruption laws.”

    On the measures taken at the domestic level to curb corruption in Nigeria, President Buhari said, a mechanism had been put in place “for budget implementation and monitoring as well as assessing the impact on the lives of the citizens.”

    Other measures he said include: “The Federal Government had successfully commenced implementation of a whistle blowing programme and so far tens of millions of Dollars have been recovered; as part of the global initiative, Nigeria has joined the open Government Partnership (OGP) having been committed in 14 areas which are categorized into four thematic areas as follows; Promoting fiscal transparency; Access to information under FOI Acts; Anti-Corruption and Asset disclosure and Citizens’ Engagement and Empowerment.

    “The above measures have not only assisted in alleviating fears of foreign investors, but have also attracted billions of Dollars in Portfolio investments since April, 2017.”

    President Buhari also noted that the “enforcement of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) has helped in no small measure to identify and curb the deep-rooted corrupt practices by looters of government revenue with multiple accounts.

    “In the first quarter of 2016, I embarked on trips to the Middle East to sensitize their governments on the need to return stolen assets and hand over the looters for trial in Nigeria. In January 2017, Nigeria and UAE signed judicial agreements on extradition, transfer of sentenced persons, and mutual legal assistance on criminal matters.

    “In March 2016, the Federal Government and the Swiss Government signed a letter of intent on the restitution of illegally acquired assets forfeited in Switzerland,” adding that under the agreement, the “Swiss government would repatriate $321 million USD illicitly acquired.”

    President Buhari affirmed that “machinery has also been set in motion for monitoring, assessing and reporting on the UN 2030 Goals on Sustainable Development.”

  • UNGA: Toyin Saraki makes case for midwives, frontline health workers

    The founder of wellbeing Africa foundation, Toyin Saraki has called on Governments and global institutions to provide better respect, recognition, regulation, remuneration and safety for midwives, frontline health workers
    Toyin Saraki, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly this week said that midwives lead the way in ensuring that mothers and their newborns survive childbirth and thrive.
    She said “I must call the world’s attention to the persistent deadly challenge of unacceptable dangers of attacks on midwives and health workers, while they give of themselves to help the world’s most vulnerable citizens, in the most fragile conditions.”
    Saraki who is a Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) said “Midwives and health workers should not be a target.”
     She spoke about the 25-year-old midwife Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa who was kidnapped by militants alongside two other International Committee of the Red Cross aid workers.
    Saifura, a young mother, had moved to Rann in north-eastern Nigeria to selflessly help those in need, as such her murder “is a tragedy for Nigeria and for the global community of midwives” Saraki explains.
    She further stated that “Saifura had specifically been working in a facility for Internally Displaced Persons – where women are of course particularly vulnerable. Two days after the terrible news broke, our MamaCare midwife Rita was herself conducting an antenatal class in an IDP camp, albeit in an area with a quite different security situation.”
    Advocating for midwives and health workers she said “There can be no greater reminder of the need to support ICM’s advocacy and aims to ensure that it’s over 500,000 midwife-members and 132 national Midwifery associations in 113 countries and 6 global regions, including Nigeria, are better recognised, regulated, respected and remunerated, than the news last week and highlight the work carried out by midwives like Saifura and Rita, with no fanfare, day after day, in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable.”
  • Buhari’s celebrated speech at UNGA

    Buhari’s celebrated speech at UNGA

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech two Tuesdays ago at the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has been celebrated as timely, inspiring and statesmanlike. An international news medium reportedly ascribed the speech — in tone, nuances, breadth and logic — to one delivered by the president of Africa. Other local media establishments and analysts also suggest that the speech was well received, and the president’s outing at UNGA a great one. Indeed, it is almost universally acknowledged that both the president’s presence at the UN and his speech did his image and the country’s reputation much good.

    The speech is textually much more coherent and accessible than most of his previous speeches. As a matter of fact, it is probably the first of his speeches to be universally acclaimed as befitting of his reputation and the country’s sub-regional and continental stature. In an uncanny way, it does appear like he is finding his feet in international affairs much faster than he is finding his feet domestically. Of course, in the final analysis, his legacy will more likely be defined by his domestic policies; but he can for the moment bask in the euphoria of sounding off with considerable aplomb on external relations issues.

    Even though he stretched his convictions and achievements a little beyond bounds in suggesting that the “frontiers of good governance, democracy, including holding free and fair elections, and enthronement of the rule of law are expanding everywhere, especially in Africa,” he can justifiably claim credit for the severity with which he and his fellow West African leaders resolved the Gambian logjam, forcing out Yahya Jammeh who lost the 2016 presidential election but refused to relinquish power. President Buhari also speaks glowingly of the rule of law though he shows considerable unease in submitting to its strictures, as evidenced by the many cases his government is battling with in the courts, and of democratic principles despite his apparent abhorrence for free speech which his government has sometimes creatively redefined as hate speech bordering on insurrection, secession, terrorism and disunity.

    Then, as if to demonstrate transcendental statesmanship, President Buhari speaks of the need by the world body to redress inequality by championing the cause of the poor, to tackle the ISIS problem, find a solution to the Rohingya tragedy in Myanmar, focus on the intractable Palestinian problem in Gaza especially, and cobble a global coalition to hammer out a peace deal or truce on the Korean peninsula by pressuring North Korea to abide by the treaty on nuclear non-proliferation. The speech is truly elevating and presidential, almost as if President Buhari had assumed continental leadership. In fact, compared with his prognosis on global conflicts, it pales into insignificance that he has been unable to find a formula to engender peace and stability in Nigeria. On the surface, therefore, the president addressed the right things with the right words, thus exuding the image of a statesman and conciliator.

    But on the whole, the speech essentially evaded the most germane issues that trouble Nigeria and the continent. The president spoke to the world about the world in details and perspectives the rest of the world, particularly the developed economies and military powers, are more eminently qualified to speak about. Despite the appeal of the address, it was impossible for President Buhari to match Europe, Russia, China, and the United States in terms of the global issues he addressed, issues that ironically resonated with many analysts locally and internationally.

    Though he spoke about other sundry issues like the Boko Haram menace and human trafficking, there were more pressing issues that could have been addressed with a philosophical and dialectical precision. The world enjoyed his speech, but they waited for the African perspective on the many issues that agitate the continent, dangerous issues that the rest of the world could neither address with the forthrightness the situation demands nor the resoluteness and resources required to curb and remedy them. There is nothing the president said on Gaza and the Palestinian nightmare that can move the matter towards a resolution. On North Korea, Nigeria is even more impotent. Neither Nigeria nor its president has any leverage whatsoever.

    As entrancing as his words were, and despite a large number of analysts swooning over the speech, it fares very badly when compared with the speech delivered at a similar UNGA by the strapping but now late Burkinabe leader, Captain Thomas Sankara, in 1984, a little over one year after he took power in a military coup. It was not so much that Captain Sankara gave a more poetic and resonating speech, an excerpt of which is published below, nor that he gave a confident and masterful delivery full of passion and vigorous language. What stood the Burkinable leader’s speech out was its brilliant focus delivered in trenchant rhetoric. He realised it was useless competing with powerful countries over issues which Burkina Faso could never hope to influence in any meaningful way, issues ruthlessly masterminded and influenced by world powers, big and medium.

    Captain Sankara also recognised that, like literature and arts, the world would be more fascinated by the African perspective of politics (local and foreign) and international affairs, for that perspective is in no way inferior to the rest of the world’s. He knew instinctively that the world waited to hear what he had to say about the economy, culture, leadership, gender equality, etc. He was of course impetuous and deeply provocative, and in the end fell to a conspiracy orchestrated by world powers and executed by local forces, but he displayed more depth and conviction, and more learning even, than many world leaders who strode the stage during his time.

    It was not expected that President Buhari should replicate Captain Sankara’s style. He was, however, required to replicate or even exceed the late Burkinabe leader’s substance. With a history of Nigeria falling victim to international conspiracy during ex-head of state Murtala Mohammed’s rule at the back of his mind, it was not expected that President Buhari would thumb his nose at world powers and embrace the provocations that led to the assassination of both Gen Mohammed and Captain Sankara. But having spoken glowingly of the rule of law and democracy, among many other great concepts and ideals, he was at least expected to illustrate his convictions with the African perspective, perhaps with a gusto and boldness that surpassed the rest of the world’s. If he didn’t, it was because he couldn’t. His speech is normally written for him, where Captain Sankara mostly wrote his own speeches. The Nigerian speechwriters penned for President Buhari what they thought everyone wanted to hear at UNGA, and they succeeded largely in making a huge but transient impression; Captain Sankara on the other hand penned what he fanatically believed, and left a short but lasting legacy.

  • Thomas Sankara at UNGA, October 4, 1984

    I speak on behalf of the millions of human beings … thrown out of work by a system that is structurally unjust and periodically unhinged, who are reduced to only glimpsing in life a reflection of the lives of the affluent. I speak on behalf of women the world over, who suffer from a male-imposed system of exploitation. … Women who struggle and who proclaim with us that the slave who is not able to take charge of his own revolt deserves no pity for his lot. This harbours illusions in the dubious generosity of a master pretending to set him free. Freedom can be won only through struggle, and we call on all our sisters of all races to go on the offensive to conquer their rights.

    “I speak on behalf of artists—poets, painters, sculptors, musicians, and actors—good men who see their art prostituted by the alchemy of show-business tricks.

    “My country is brimming with all the misfortunes of the people of the world, a painful synthesis of all humanity’s suffering, but also—and above all—of the promise of our struggles. This is why my heart beats naturally on behalf of the sick who anxiously scan the horizons of science monopolized by arms merchants. My thoughts go out to all of those affected by the destruction of nature and to those 30 million who will die as they do each year, struck down by the formidable weapon of hunger…Well, I am acting as spokesperson for all those who vainly see a forum in this world where they can make themselves heard. So yes, I wish to speak on behalf of all “those left behind”, for “I am human, nothing that is human is alien to me”.

    “Our revolution in Burkina Faso embraces misfortunes of all peoples. It also draws inspiration from all of man’s experiences since his first breath. We wish to be the heirs of all the world’s revolutions and all the liberation struggles of the peoples of the Third World. Our eyes are on the profound upheavals that have transformed the world. We draw the lessons of the American Revolution, the lessons of its victory over colonial domination and the consequences of that victory. We adopt as our own the affirmation of the Doctrine whereby Europeans must not intervene in American affairs, nor Americans in European affairs. Just as Monroe proclaimed ‘America to the Americans’ in 1823, we echo this today by saying ‘Africa to the Africans,’ ‘Burkina to the Burkinabè.’ “

  • Buhari back to Abuja

    Buhari back to Abuja

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday night returned to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

    Buhari, who left Nigeria on the 17th of September, 2017 for the United States, delivered a speech during the general debate at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday 19th of September.

    He left the United States for London, from where he returned to Nigeria on Monday.

  • Our faith in democracy unshaken firm, says Buhari

    Our faith in democracy unshaken firm, says Buhari

    Text of President Muhammadu Buhari remarks at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States (U.S.).

    The previous year has witnessed many far-reaching developments. Some of the most significant events include the Iran Nuclear Deal, the Paris Climate Change Agreement and, of grave concern, the North Korean nuclear crisis.

    I must also commend the UN’s role in helping to settle thousands of innocent civilians caught in the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. In particular, we must collectively thank the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany under the commendable leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Governments of Italy, Greece and Turkey for assisting hundreds of thousands of refugees.

    In an exemplary show of solidarity, the international community came together within my own region to assist the countries and communities in the Sahel and the Lake Chad regions to contain the threats posed by Al Qaida and Boko Haram.

    We thank the Security Council for visiting the countries of the Lake Chad Basin to assess the security situation and humanitarian needs and for pledging assistance to rebuild lives and livelihoods. Indeed, in Nigeria, we are providing relief and humanitarian assistance to millions in camps and those afflicted by terrorism, drought, floods and other natural disasters.

    In the last year, the international community came together to focus on the need for gender equality, youth empowerment, social inclusion, and the promotion of education, creativity and innovation. The frontiers of good governance, democracy including holding free and fair elections, and enthronement of the rule of law are expanding everywhere, especially in Africa.

    Our faith in democracy remains firm and unshaken. Our regional organisation – Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – came together to uphold democratic principles in The Gambia as we had done previously in Cote D’Ivoire.

    Through our individual national efforts, state institutions are being strengthened to promote accountability and to combat corruption and asset recovery. These can only be achieved through the international community cooperating and providing critical assistance and material support. We shall also cooperate in addressing the growing transnational crimes such as forced labour, modern day slavery, human trafficking and cybercrime.

    These cooperative efforts should be sustained. We must collectively devise strategies and mobilise the required responses to stop fleeing ISIS fighters from mutating and infiltrating into the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, where there are insufficient resources and weak response capacity.

    This will require strong UN cooperation with regional organisations, such as the African Union (AU), in conflict prevention and management. The UN should continue to take primary leadership of the maintenance of international peace and security by providing, in a predictable and sustainable manner, adequate funding and other enablers to regional initiatives and peacekeeping operations authorised by the Security Council.

    New conflicts should not make us lose focus on ongoing unresolved old conflicts. For example, several UN Security Council Resolutions from 1967 on the Middle East crisis remain unimplemented. Meanwhile, the suffering of the Palestinian people and the blockade of Gaza continue.

    Additionally, we are now confronted by the desperate human rights and humanitarian situations in Yemen and most tragically in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The Myanmar crisis is very reminiscent of what happened in Bosnia in 1995 and in Rwanda in 1994.

    The international community cannot remain silent and not condemn the horrendous suffering caused by what, from all indications is a state-backed programme of brutal depopulation of the Rohingya inhabited areas in Myanmar on the bases of ethnicity and religion. We fully endorse the call by the Secretary-General on the Government of Myanmar to order a halt to the ongoing ethnic cleansing and ensure the safe return of the displaced Rohingya to their homes in safety and dignity.

    In all these crises, the primary victims are the people, the most vulnerable being women and children. That is why the theme of this session: Focusing on people: Striving for peace and decent life for all on a sustainable planet” is most apposite.

    While the international community grapples to resolve these conflicts, we must be mindful and focus on the widening inequalities within societies, and the gap between the rich and the poor nations. These inequalities and gaps are part of the underlining root causes of competition for resources, frustration and anger leading to spiralling instability.

    The most pressing threat to international peace and security today is the accelerated nuclear weapons development programme by North Korea. Since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, we have never come so close to the threat of nuclear war as we have now.

    All necessary pressure and diplomatic efforts must be brought to bear on North Korea to accept peaceful resolution of the crisis. As Hiroshima and Nagasaki painfully remind us, if we fail, the catastrophic and devastating human loss and environmental degradation cannot be imagined.

    Nigeria proposes a strong UN delegation to urgently engage the North Korean leader. The delegation, led by the Security Council, should include members from all the regions.

    The crisis in the Korean peninsula underscores the urgency for all member states, guided by the spirit of enthroning a safer and more peaceful world, to ratify without delay the Treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, which will be open for signature here tomorrow.

    I end my remarks by reiterating Nigeria’s abiding commitment to the foundational principles and goals of the UN. Since our admission as a member state in 1960, we have always participated in all efforts to bring about global peace, security and development. Nigeria will continue to support the UN in all its efforts, including the attainment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

  • Buhari arrives in New York for UN Summit

    Buhari arrives in New York for UN Summit

    President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in New York, United States, to join other world leaders for the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level events starting on Tuesday.

    The President was accompanied by governors Abdul’aziz Yari (Zamfara), David Umahi (Ebonyi) and Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo).

    He was received at the JF Kennedy Airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative  to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande.

    The President was thereafter, received at 8:30 p.m. at his lodge by three ministers – Kayode Fayemi (Solid Minerals), Adamu Adamu (Education), and Okechukwu Enelamah (Industry, Trade and Investment).

    The others were the Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jibril; his Budget and National Planning counterpart, Zainab Ahmed, presidential aides as well as members of staff of the Nigerian Missions in the U.S.

    Buhari will deliver Nigeria’s National Statement on Tuesday, the first day of the general debate.

    He has been listed as the eighth speaker of the 193 Head of States expected to address the General Debate of the General Assembly.

    The theme for this year’s debate is ‘Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet’.

    The President will also join other world leaders at the welcoming reception to be hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and hold a bilateral meeting with the UN chief.

    Aside other high-level engagement, he will have a lunch meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, along with other world leaders.

    Nigeria will also participate in high-level meetings on “Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: Building Momentum for Change,” the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, a High Level Event organised by African Union under its theme of the Year: “Roadmap on the Demographic Dividend:From Commitment to Action,” among others.

    It is expected that the President and members of his delegation will project Nigeria as a strong moral force and responsible member of the international community.

     

  • Buhari leads Nigerian delegation to New York

    Buhari leads Nigerian delegation to New York

    Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will lead the Nigerian delegation to the 72nd UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

    Onyeama made this known in Abuja on Tuesday when he briefed the newsmen on the conference scheduled to hold from Sept. 12 to Sept. 25
    He said Nigeria would at the meeting, renew its call for international support for the release of remaining Chibok girls.

    He said that Nigeria would also call for comprehensive reform of the UN, particularly the Security Council to reflect effective, equitable and fair representation.

    “We are absolutely delighted that, as he did last year, Mr President will be leading the Nigerian delegation to the UNGA in New York.
    “That should be an excellent message to the world that Nigeria is engaged at the very highest level with the international community and it is present in the big and global issues of the day.

    “Of course, when we attend UNGA we always have clear objectives of what we want to get out of it for the country. “We are always keen that Nigeria’s priorities and interests are really pushed and our objectives are achieved,” he said  According to him, under the leadership of President Buhari the 2017 UNGA will be no exception as the delegation will engage robustly with the international community.

    He said that the 2017 UNGA provided a high level window of opportunity to advance Nigeria’s actions toward the promotion of peace and fervent implementation of SDGs.

    He said Nigeria would pursue its agenda in line with the theme for the session “Focusing on people: Striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet” Onyeama said that Nigeria would seek the support of the international community in eradicating the residual traces of terrorism from the northeast of the country.

    “Government’s efforts have resulted in the release of over 80 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok in 2014 “We will call for continued international support to ensure the safe release and return of the remaining Chibok girls,” he said.

    He said that Nigeria would also reiterate call for the repatriation of the proceeds of illicit financial assets to countries of origin. He said that Nigeria at the 2016 UNGA co-sponsored the resolution on repatriation of illicit financial assets to countries of origin. “At the 72nd Session, the country will follow-up on this resolution and call for international cooperation to combat illicit flows and enhance asset recovery to foster sustainable development.

    “Nigeria will also advocate for the eradication of poverty through partnerships which focus attention on people and planet in line with SDG Goal 1 “In this connection Nigeria will call for the continued support and cooperation of the international community to achieve this goal,” he said.

    According to him, Nigeria will seize the opportunity to take stock of the progress and achievement it has made since the adoption of the global agenda.

    He said that Nigeria was keen on the reformation of the UN, particularly the Security Council, to reflect an even-handed and fair representation.

    “The UN must scale up its process of change and reform to strengthen its delivery capacity to meet new demands and deliver its vital services in most effective and efficient manner.

    “The contemporary call for the reform of the UN Security Council is for a transparent, accountable Council. To this effect, Nigeria will call for the comprehensive reform of the UN.

    “Africa must be adequately represented on the Security Council in the Permanent membership category. In this regard, Nigeria stands ready to serve Africa and the world in advancing international peace and security,” he said.