Contrary to expectations and defying all the familiar odds, President Muhammadu Buhari came to the party and gave a fine speech. In view of the fact that little was expected of the recouping leader, he earns a thumbs-up for his clarity of speech, organized thoughts and brief but very apt points. Buhari made it clear that Nigeria stands for and remains committed to regional stability, global peace and order. No wonder, his account of the Nigeria and ECOWAS intervention in resolving The Gambia’s political crisis and averting another civil strife, deservedly earned him a loud ovation.
The Nigerian President meticulously picked his words and said them, surprisingly, in very clear English. Like its trademark regional protector disposition and usual outlandish remarks to exhibit its importance and giant stature in Africa, Nigeria made a bold call for commonsense to prevail on the US-North Korea face-off, reminding all that the closest we are to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis or nuclear war is the trajectory of things as they currently are in the Korean Peninsula. Speaking eloquently for Africa, President Buhari recommended to the UN to constitute a high profile delegation made of all regional powers to arrange a roundtable with North Korea’s Kim with the aim of averting a most cataclysmic war.
The account he gave of his stewardship and judicious use of global goodwill in combating corruption and Boko Haram was important to sustain international support. His linkage of regional terror to global terrorism was a wise statement to give a clearer picture of the dangerous dimension of the development and the need for more concerted efforts.
The President’s emphasis on Myanmar and other countries from which Muslim refugees are searching for safe haven and gratitude to nations that have welcomed such displaced people tended to betray his primordial attachment more to the Islamic world. It may be a coincidence, but on such a global stage, such room for speculations ought not be carelessly allowed. Also the President’s speech was devoid of the candour, spark and fireworks expected of leaders of leading African nations, like in the cases of Mohamar Ghaddafi and Robert Mugabe at different points in time.
Buhari was silent on pertinent and controversial issues such as IPOB and the internal military operations, which are capable of tearing Nigeria apart and are begging for answers globally. Nigeria’s immeasurable role in global peace and UN peacekeeping missions was stressed, but defining Nigeria’s limits and expectations from other countries was not outlined. A “Nigeria First” attitude towards Africa and the world was far from conception.
The highest points of Buhari’s speech were his recommendation for international mediation in the Kim-Trump and South Korea/Japan matter on the one hand; and his reminder of the international community that resolutions had piled up from 1964, unimplemented thereby making the UN goal of global peace encumbered. For a man who had been critically ill for a good part of the year, he deserved the loud ovation he got for daring his health to come for the GA, address the world leaders and deliver a fairly well thought-out speech.
Professor Sheriff Folarin sent this in from Covenant University, Sango Ota, Nigeria
