UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS NIGERIA’S PROFESSOR AS PRESIDENT
The Assembly President started at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria, rising from Graduate Assistant in 1980 to full Professor in 1998, and ultimately to Vice-Chancellor, in 2004, a position he held for five years.
Penpushing further reports that, Muhammad-Bande served as the Director-General of Le Centre Africain de Formation et de Recherche Administratives pour le Dèveloppement (CAFRAD), in Tangier, Morocco between 2000-2004.
The newly elected President held the position of Director-General of Nigeria’s National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, the country’s most reputable policy institution for training leaders from the public and private sectors, including high echelon officials of Nigeria’s Armed Forces from 2010 to 2016
Penpushing also reports that, as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, he worked with colleagues from all regions of the World to achieve common objectives and served as the Vice-President of the General Assembly during the 71st session.
The Professor who is to assume duties in September has remain active in several fora, including as Chair of the United Nations Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (C34), Member, Advisory Board of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre and Chair of the ECOWAS Group (2018-2019).
Penpushing reports, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres while congratulating Mohammad-Bande, noted that as Nigerian and an African, ‘you have invaluable insights into the continent’s challenges’
“It is my pleasure to congratulate Professor Tijjani Mohammad-Bande as President of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly. From your years as Permanent Representative of Nigeria, you know the United Nations well.”
“As a Nigerian and an African, you have invaluable insights into the continent’s challenges – such as the Sahel and Lake Chad basin – and more broadly into the challenges our world faces across the three pillars of our work, peace, sustainable development and human rights.”
The Secretary General noted that, Mohammad-Bande would be in office as the United Nations geared up to commemorate her 75th anniversary – an occasion that he hoped could be used to reaffirm the value of international cooperation and the vision of the Charter.
Penpushing also reports that, Guterres pointed out that September would see a crucially important series of meetings, including the Climate Action Summit and the Sustainable Development Goals Summit, and the high-level meetings on universal health coverage, Small Island developing states and financing for sustainable development.
The Secretary General commended Her Excellency María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, for her outstanding work as President of the 73rd session, stating, “I am most grateful for her support, especially for her support, of the United Nations reform and her overall stewardship of this body.”.
