By Ajani Okanlawon
President Muhammadu Buhari has denied reports that the Nigerian delegation to the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly disregarded a meeting on help for persons displaced by Boko Haram, saying his administration remains fully committed to the rehabilitation and well-being of all persons adversely affected by the insurgency.
US and European Union diplomats were reported have said they were disappointed that Nigeria did not attend the event chaired by Stephen O’Brien.
A statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the war against terrorism, improved security across Nigeria and additional measures to give succour to internally displaced persons have been central to discussions President Buhari has had with other world leaders since his arrival in New York on Thursday night.
“The issues were dominant in the President’s conversations on Friday with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the King of Spain, His Majesty Don Felipe VI and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown who came with former President Olusegun Obasanjo to discuss the actualisation of the safe schools initiative, which is of special interest in parts of Nigeria most vulnerable to terrorist attacks,” the statement said.
It continued: “President Buhari is handling his duty as leader of the Nigerian delegation to this year’s General Assembly with the greatest possible diligence and will certainly not tolerate any tardiness on the part of the delegation in seizing every possible opportunity to advance Nigeria’s interests.
“This notwithstanding, it must be realised that it will be near impossible for any national delegation, no matter its size, to participate in all the meetings that are simultaneously happening in and around the General Assembly in New York.
“The meeting at which Nigeria was reportedly absent was not one the official events of the United Nations for which President Muhammadu Buhari and his modest delegation are in New York.
“While the meeting referred to in media reports is commendable, it was not the only one or the most important of such meetings in New York that are paying attention to the problem of insecurity, migration and violent extremism in the Lake Chad area and the rest of the world.”
Shehu disclosed that Nigeria was represented on Saturday at an important side event devoted to the North-East called by the UN Population Fund, UNFPA on Building Stability and Resilience in Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin Countries.
President Buhari, he said, is fully conscious of his responsibility to Nigeria and will accept nothing short of the best for Nigerians in the meetings taking place in and around the United Nations.
“Anyone trying to create an impression of dereliction of duty, based on the Nigerian delegation’s absence at an unofficial meeting, is only being mischievous and uncharitable,” the statement concluded.
