77th UN Assembly: Buhari arrives New York

President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in New York for the high-level meetings of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Mr Buhari arrived at the JF Kennedy International Airport in New York at about 6:20 p.m. local time and was received by the minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, the permanent representative of Nigeria to the UN, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande and Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States, Uzoma Emenike, among others.

The theme for the 77th session, which opened on Tuesday, is ‘A watershed moment: Transformative solutions to interlocking challenges’. Key topics at the 2022 UNGA include the war in Ukraine, the global energy crisis, climate action, and ending the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president is expected to attend the opening of the ‘High-Level Summit on Transforming Education and Leaders Roundtable’ on Monday, where he will deliver Nigeria’s national statement. He will also speak in the thematic session of the summit on ‘Digital Transformation of Education’.

On Tuesday, Mr Buhari will attend the opening ceremony of the UNGA General Debate, where the president of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrös and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will declare the General Debate open.

He is expected to attend the opening ceremony as the head of the Nigerian delegation in the company of Messrs Onyeama, Muhammad-Bande and other top Nigerian delegates.

Also, Mr Buhari will attend the ‘Transforming Education in Africa: Past, Present and Future’, where he will make a statement that same day. On Wednesday, the Nigerian leader will be the first speaker to address the General Assembly, the second day of the General Debate. He will deliver Nigeria’s statement around 9:00 a.m. (about 2:00 p.m. Nigerian time) to other world leaders during the morning session.

He will attend the ‘Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change’ meeting and ‘Africa’s New Public Health Order: Rejuvenating the Global Health Security Agenda’. Mr Buhari will attend a reception by U.S. President Joe Biden at the American Museum of Natural History.

On Thursday, the president will attend a bilateral meeting on ‘Nigeria International Economic Partnership Forum’ and high-level meetings on the Sahel. Mr Buhari will attend the ‘Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government’.

On Friday, the Nigerian president will attend the ‘High-Level Breakfast Meeting on Reinvigorating Multilateralism and Achieving Comprehensive Reform of the UN Security Council Commemoration’ of 15 years of L.69.

He will also attend the official launch of Nigeria’s ‘Integrated National Financing Framework’ that same day. 

(NAN)