By Masara Kim
[Abuja] Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s remarks to the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 19 [September 20 Africa time] have sent shockwaves around the world and raised hope back home amid widespread terror threats and immigration crisis.
Tinubu’ speech canvassed global cooperation to resolve poverty, corruption and mass migration by terrorists threatening to decimate the African continent.
The President invoked a new direction for Africa’s most populous country which has been battered by terrorists and corrupt politicians alike, according to lawmakers speaking to TruthNigeria.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a President that came with a contemporary vision to the contemporary challenges facing Nigeria,” said Senator Diket Plang to TruthNigeria by phone.
“And when you have contemporary vision, you can be sure that gradually things will take shape,” said Plang, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress Party who represents Plateau central district at the Nigerian Senate.
“I have confidence in the President and the direction he is taking this country, and I hope that Nigerians can see reasons to support him and begin to have hope in the country because there is total hopelessness around the country at the moment,” Plang said.
“President Tinubu had a chance to bring attention to Nigeria, but his words got lost in think-tank platitudes,” wrote Kyle Abts, executive director of the International Committee on Nigeria, in a text to TruthNigeria. “Yes, he spoke on insecurity and the concerns plaguing West Africa, but he also joined the climate-change bandwagon. Regrettably, as the current ECOWAS leader, he neglected to call out the military leaders and terrorist groups who are responsible for extremism and violence. Who is going to be able to care about climate change and investment opportunities when you worry that you will live another day?”
Opposition Representative member Ibrahim Gyendeng also told TruthNigeria the President’s remarks represent the genuine concerns of Nigerians.
“What the President said is a reflection of what is going on in Nigeria and Africa as a whole,” said Gyendeng of the People’s Democratic Party from Plateau State.
“I am in agreement with the President and everything he said,” Gyendeng said. “The level of poverty and terror threats in the country has risen to a level where people are dying on a daily basis,” said Gyendeng by telephone.
“That is why you see coups taking place in different African countries because people are not happy with the government and are ready to do anything to better their lives,” he said.
Mr. Tinubu in his remarks blamed a recent wave of military coups in sub-Sahara Africa on bad governance and promised to provide a sound direction for other African leaders.
“We must affirm democratic governance as the best guarantor of the sovereign will and well-being of the people,” said Tinubu. “Military coups are wrong, as is any tilted civilian political arrangement that perpetuates injustice,” Tinubu said.
“The wave crossing parts of Africa does not demonstrate favor towards coups. It is a demand for solutions to perennial problems,” said Tinubu.
Tinubu himself came into power through an election that was widely criticized, including by international observers as flawed. Yet, the President has proposed an eight-point agenda tailored toward building democratic structures that would earn him the trust of every citizen.
Recently, in a nod toward accommodation of the opposition, the President appointed the brother to the Presidential running mate for the opposition Labour Party as a special advisor for the office of his Vice President.
Mr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the leader of a regional association in the country’s north is the elder brother of Yusuf Baba-Ahmed who contested the March 2023 Presidential elections along with Mr. Peter Obi, both of whom are currently disputing Tinubu’s election in court.
Mr. Tinubu also had the opposition Governor of Plateau State recently singing his praises for responding to armed attacks that claimed hundreds of Plateau residents in the early days of his administration.
Governor Caleb Mutfwang in a state broadcast on 18 September said ‘daily’ attacks that peaked on the eve of the Governor and President’s inauguration on May 29, killing more than 350 residents by June have declined following the President’s effort.
“I sincerely appreciate Mr. President for the support provided so far and look forward to sustained collaboration with the Federal Government towards eliminating all security challenges on the Plateau,” said Mutfwang.
Mr. Tinubu in New York restated his commitment toward “disbanding extremist groups” threatening the country, calling for global cooperation to end the migration of terrorists and mercenaries into West Africa.
“The international community must strengthen its commitment to arrest the flow of arms and violent people into West Africa. violent extremists who seek to foment instability in our region. Our entire region is locked in protracted battle against violent extremists. In the turmoil, a dark channel of inhumane commerce has formed,” he said.
Tinubu’s commitment to decimate terrorists threatening communities has suggested a departure from his predecessor’s legacy of turning a blind eye to scores of rural massacres in the Middle Belt and blasphemy murders in Nigeria’s North.
Jihadists attacks killed more than 31,000 Christians during his administration from 2015 to 2023 according to Intersociety, an international monitoring group.
Masara Kim is an award-winning conflict reporter based in Jos and serves as senior editor for TruthNigeria.com
