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| Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande |
All eyes will be on Nigeria as from today as the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, takes charge of the global body as the president of its General Assembly (UNGA).
The Muhammad-Bande presidency, which is coming 30 years after this country’s first, presents Nigeria and Africa a unique opportunity to ensure the implementation of the existing mandates for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.
It is noteworthy that the Bande’s tenure will also witness the direction of the global body as it marks its 75th year anniversary next year.
Bande is a Nigerian political scientist, administrator and career diplomat. Muhammad-Bande was born on 7 December 1957 in the town of Zagga in present-day Kebbi State. He attended Ahmadu Bello University for undergraduate studies, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 1979 before proceeding to Boston University, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in Political Science in 1981.
He was the permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations and served as the Vice President of the General Assembly during its 71st session in September 2016.
A year from now, on June 26, 2020, the international community will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter.
May be months before the anniversary, the global body will hammer out a forward-looking and unifying declaration that captures member states’ commitment to multilateralism, global peace and global hunger.
The anniversary may invariably put the UN in a state of reflection, giving it a chance to assess achievements, renew commitments, strengthen its systems and mechanisms for global governance and peace.
The UN missed the boat during its 50th anniversary, in 1995, compelling Secretary-General Kofi Annan to push for the adoption of several new goals, including one aimed at improved peace-building, 10 years later.
The outgoing UN General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, a former Ecuadorian ambassador to the UN, said recently that the 75th anniversary of the creation of the institution is a time for reflection as well as celebration.
In a remark, she said the anniversary offers both “opportunities” and “serious challenges.” Espinosa said the UN is more vital than ever in a time of rising nationalism and extremism.
“We sometimes speak of this moment as ‘a crossroads’ – where things could go either way,” she said. “But it feels more and more like a tipping point – as though we are on the brink of irreparable damage to our rules-based international system.”
Espinosa warned that as these forces rise, public confidence in the UN is declining. “We are seeing a growing disconnect between people, governments and institutions,” she said.
She said the world “badly needs an effective United Nations,” and that in addition to challenges of poverty and conflict, rapid shifts in technology and the present threat of climate change means “there is virtually no challenge – or opportunity – that does not require cooperation between nations.”
Espinosa must be speaking the minds of many the world over as the world body refuses to change the membership of the Security Council to reflect new power blocs.
Analysts believe that the UN should be a body that prevents conflicts and not the one that tackles crises – even though the world cannot exist without conflicts. This is more so with the money being spent on peacekeeping all over the world and the number of casualties being suffered by countries contributing troops.
The Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN was elected President of the 74th session of the General Assembly by acclamation on Tuesday, June 4, to serve the one-year role with a strong mandate from his home government, that nominated him, endorsed by the Group of African States and adopted unanimously by the member-states.
Bande’s mandates particularly will be focusing on peace and security, poverty eradication, zero hunger, quality education, climate action and inclusion.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has dispatched a three-man team to witness Bande’s assumption of office.
The ceremony will take place at the UN New York headquarters, United States of America, today and tomorrow, ahead of the high-level week of the UNGA when leaders of the nations of the world take turns to address the General Assembly.
However, the world is watching the fruits Bande’s tenure will bear.
