President Buhari Addresses UN General Assembly

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari will address the 76th Session of the high-level General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly.

The assembly will hold at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, September 24, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported.

A provisional list of speakers obtained by NAN from the UN headquarters in New York showed that Buhari would be the second speaker on the fourth day.

President Buhari would deliver his address around 9 am (around 2 pm Nigerian time) to other world leaders during the morning session.

Other leaders expects to dress the assembly includes, Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil who would be the first world leader to present his address to the 76th session as it is tradition, followed by the United States of American President Joe Biden, the traditional second speaker, being the host country.

Other leaders from more than 80 countries would speak in-persons at the Assembly, while other world leaders would speak through pre-recorded video messages.

At a press briefing, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Mr. Stephane Dujarric, said strict pandemic rules would be enforced at the Assembly for the 2021 session.

Dujarric said the enforcement would include mandatory mask-wearing for all participants, required vaccinations for
headquarters staff and severely limited access to its 16-acre complex.

The UN is aiming for at least a partial restoration of the person-to-person diplomacy that its leaders regard as critical for the organization’s ability to function.

The 2021 high-level meeting is in contrast to 2020 when the General Assembly was conducted in a virtual format through pre-recorded video messages only.

The year 2020 General Assembly was the first time in the 75 years of the UN existence that the annual high-level meetings were conducted virtually.

Nigeria’s Tijjani Muhammad-Bande presided as the President of the Assembly throughout the lockdown and was praised for devising novel means for the Assembly to conduct its affairs through virtual means during the pandemic.

The 76th session of the General Assembly opened on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, with the inauguration of a new President, Abdulla Shahid of Maldives.

The gavel was passed to Shahid by his predecessor, Volkan Bozkir of Turkey at the closing of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. (NAN)