Presidency

UNGA 78: Tinubu leaves New York after first outing

President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, September 21, 2023, departed New York after attending the 78th session high-level meetings of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Tinubu, while in New York, participated in some of the high-level events, including a bilateral meeting.

The president, who arrived in New York on Sunday, was among the leaders who adopted the political declaration to accelerate the 17 goals at the SDG Summit on Monday.

Ahead of the opening of the session, Tinubu met with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, to discuss stronger economic and regional ties.

On Tuesday, the president attended the opening of the UN General Debate in the company of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar; the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to UN, Amb.Tijjani Muhammad-Bande; and the Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Also on Tuesday, Tinubu delivered Nigeria’s statement to the world leaders, affirming democratic governance as the best guarantor of the sovereign will and well-being of the people, saying military coups are wrong.

In his inaugural speech on behalf of Nigeria and Africa, he said Nigeria’s accord with the objectives and guiding principles of the world body – peace, security, human rights, and development.

President Tinubu, as ECOWAS Chairman, solicited help to re-establish democratic governance in a manner that addresses the political and economic challenges confronting Africa, including the violent extremists who seek to foment instability in the region.

On Wednesday, he met with some Nigerians in the U.S., where he urged them to change their mindset to succeed.

Tinubu at the meeting with Nigerians in the diaspora urged them to come back home, noting that Nigeria has arrived and that they should forget the frustration of the previous years’ leadership.

After his interaction with Nigerians, he met with the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, where he noted that African nations would start to take appropriate actions against actors that illicitly siphon and smuggle out the continent’s vast mineral resources.

The Nigerian leader told the UN chief that human rights had been used to deter actions against such actors that smuggle out African resources and bring in western-made weapons.

On Thursday, he rang the bell at the National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (NASDAQ) in New York, becoming the first African President to perform such task.

Nigerian delegation participated in other high-level events such as High-level dialogue on financing for development; high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.

The delegation also attended Climate Ambition Summit, convened by the Secretary-General; the ministerial meeting of the summit of the future; and high-level meeting of the Universal Health Coverage.

The delegation, made up of 16 ministers, seven governors, Chief of Staff, and some heads of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) also attended other events.

The Star