President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech at the 74th United Nations General Assembly in New York last week lasted about 15 minutes but he made at least ten important remarks, two of them controversial. Buhari thanked the General Assembly for electing Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, as President of its 74th Session, which he described as a great honour.
The theme of the 74th General Assembly is “Galvanising multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion,” which Buhari said “are the prime areas calling for collective action which will benefit national and global interests.”Multilateralism as symbolised by the UN system, he said, has brought immense benefits to the people of the world, saved lives, prevented wars, restored peace and stability and generated economic and social progress in many countries. However, he said, “as the world grows richer, there are regrettable signals in the World Economic and Political Order. Millions in Africa and around the world remain in abject poverty.”Rising tide of racism, xenophobia, resurgent nationalism, populism and tendencies towards protectionism and unilateralism all threaten the UN’s pristine principles, he said.
Buhari then called for a Marshal Plan for Africa reminiscent of the USA’s Marshal Plan for Europe at the end of War II. He said “a developed Africa will not be antagonistic to industrialised countries but will become friends and partners in prosperity, security and development” while “a poor Africa will be a drag on the rest of the world.”He described current attempts to help develop Africa by industrial countries as “un-coordinated and plainly incremental”and he urged industrial countries to take a long-term view of Africa. Poverty, Buhari said, is“one of the greatest challenges facing our world.” He blamed it for “common criminality, insurgency, cross-border crimes and human trafficking.”
President Buhari then spoke about his administration’s National Social Investment Programme,“a pro-poor scheme that targets the poorest and most vulnerable households in the country” and the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme. Both schemes have not yet achieved enough success to be marketed internationally. Less controversially, Buhari urged the UN to lead efforts to end the Occupation of Palestine; end the risks associated with nuclear proliferation; end “unfair and unjust trading practices notwithstanding the World Trade Organisation Rules and Precepts” and combat the looming danger of climate change. He said Nigeria has added one million hectares of forested land and has taken our total forest coverage to 6.7%, which is news to most Nigerians. He then renewed the call for expansion of the UN Security Council “to reflect the diversity and dynamics of the 21st Century.”
Recalling the massacre of 50 worshippers by a lone gunman in New Zealand, Buhari blamed social media for facilitating it and urged major tech companies not to allow “the spread of religious, racist, xenophobic and false messages capable of inciting whole communities against each other.” He then took a current headache head-on and said, “We are giving notice to international criminal groups by the vigorous prosecution of the P&ID scam attempting to cheat Nigeria of billions of dollars.”
Buhari concluded by saying, “In Nigeria, we have made significant strides to put our own house in order. We will work tirelessly to uphold due process. The rule of law remains the permanent, unchanging foundation of the world order.” Many groups in Nigeria will say his administration has not always lived up to this claim.
