25th September, 2021
President Muhammadu Buhari has departed New York for Abuja, after participating at the United Nations General Assembly.
He left New York today, a day after he delivered his country address to the world body.
News about his departure was broken by his photographer, Sunday Aghaeze.
In his speech to UNGA 76, Buhari focussed on the recent trend of unconstitutional takeover of power in West Africa and urged the world to show its disapproval.
He warned that democratic gains of the past decades in West Africa ‘‘are now being eroded’’ due to these negative trends.
He affirmed Nigeria’s support to efforts by ECOWAS, AU and the UN to address this growing challenge, saying:
‘‘As leaders of our individual Member-States we need to adhere to the constitutional provisions of our countries, particularly on term limits. This is one area that generates crisis and political tension in our sub-region.’’
The President urged the international community not only to deal with the symptoms of conflict but also the immediate causes that fuel conflicts in the first place.
‘‘These include poor and undemocratic governance, human rights abuses, poverty, ignorance, injustice and inequalities.
‘‘There are no easy solutions to these conditions. They require long term investments and more effective international cooperation. In this connection, my delegation underscores the importance of promoting peaceful, unfettered, and inclusive participation of states in global actions towards conflict prevention.
‘‘This will facilitate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union Agenda 2063.”