The unwarranted fuss about Tinubu’s absence at UNGA

MaTaZ ArIsInG
Dallas, Texas

The penchant of some disgruntled Nigerians for making a mountain of a molehill in their desperation to destabilise President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration is befuddling. As world leaders were gathered in the United States of America for the 81st edition of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), a gathering designed to find answers to the natural, human and ecological problems confronting the world, their concerns were not about the existential threats that terrorism constitutes to the world, or the armed conflict between Iran and Israel/America, or the widespread poverty that bedevils Nigeria and other African countries, but ludicrous speculations as to whether Tinubu would appear at the gathering in person.

This storm in a tea cup had been aggravated by Tinubu’s political enemies whose campaign against the President’s second term in favour of their preferred candidates had been woven around a phantom criminal case in the US over which they said he must not dare enter the God’s own country. Some said he would be greeted with hostile reception from President Donald Trump if he did. Others more comical wagered that President Tinubu would be given the treatment meted out to Nicholas Maduro, the Venezuelan President captured by US forces on January 3 for allegedly shifting his country towards authoritarian rule and leading an alleged narco-terrorism and cocaine-trafficking conspiracy.

Their concern was not borne out of any patriotic zeal but part of their relentless crave to discredit Tinubu and his government in spite of the giant strides the administration has made in reshaping the nation and charting the course of an assured future for generations yet unborn. It matters nothing to them that Tinubu was not the only head of state who was absent from the UNGA. That German Chancellor Frierich Merz, Italy’s Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, South African President  Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattal al-Sisi; Indian Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others, were all absent from the annual event.

The foregoing were represented by delegations of individuals or groups whose offices may not even be as powerful as that of the eloquent Vice President Kashim Shettima who stood in for the President and delivered an address that drew a thunderous applause from other world leaders. Yet the majority of them who pretended to be so concerned that Nigeria was not being represented by its president took no scintilla of interest in the brilliant speech delivered by Shettima because it was a dart against their evil agenda; a humiliating defeat of their wishes and expectations. There was no better way to demonstrate this than a scene in an interview session on Arise TV, the unofficial mouthpiece of anti-Tinubu elements, anchored by the rambunctious Rufai Oseni and Ayo Mairo-Ese.

NigeriaTourism Info

The duo had gone hunting for Ambassador Joe Keshi, one of the finest flowers of diplomacy renowned for his frank and unapologetic stance on issues, hoping that he would buttress their standpoint that Tinubu committed an unpardonable sin with his absence from UNGA. But Ambassador Kesh’s response left the duo stupefied as he expressed dismay at the big issue they and their ilk had made of a trifle. In a tone and gesture conveying his trademark braggadocio, Rufai had asked the amiable diplomat to help him and his partner “make sense of what is going on for us: this repeated non-attendance by the President.”

The anchors obviously expected the seasoned diplomat, who said he had attended UNGA more than six times during his active years, to join in roasting Tinubu, but the response they got left them crestfallen. He said: “Thank you very much, Rufai, and nice to see you again, Ayo. I am actually amazed that we have left some of the most important issues and we are engaged in some innocuous debates as to whether the President attends or whether he does not attend, or whether he has lost the opportunity to sit beside Donal Trump. In the process, we have left the most important issues.

“The issues before the United Nations today, there are eight critical issues about African development and financing sustainable development goals in Africa. But this is my take: there were times in this country that the President or leaders of Nigeria did not attend UNGA, and the heavens did not fall. It is true that Buhari probably attended. But what came out of Buhari’s attendance at the end of the day?

“What we need to understand and the most important thing is that as long as Nigeria is represented, Nigeria as a country is attending the United Nations General Assembly. All these debates that if the President is not there it is a big shame or whatever it is, for goodness sake, is irrelevant. The most important thing is that Nigeria is represented.

“And if the Vice President is there leading the Nigerian delegation, that is the most important thing we should focus on; that the Nigerian state is represented. All other things, I don’t think that they are important.”

The diplomat also had a word for those making an issue of the distance between Nigeria’s seat and that of the US at the assembly, saying it is a ridiculous display of ignorance on the part of such people.

He said: “And this whole idea that I have been hearing that he (President)  is going to sit beside Donald Trump. Again, this is why people don’t respect us and make fun of us. The UNGA sitting arrangement is in alphabetical order. Where on earth will N (Nigeria) sit next to U (United States of America)? It doesn’t make sense. But people come on television and issue press releases, exhibiting their own ignorance about how UNGA works.

“UNGA does not work that way. We should focus on the most important issues that the United Nations General Assembly is going to discuss this year, and that includes Africa itself; the issue of peace and security around the globe and strengthening multilateralism. This is where we are. We are wasting our time on an irrelevant debate on whether the President goes or he does not go.”

1SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER NOW

Support MATAZ ARISING’ journalism of integrity and credibility.

Good journalism ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.

We ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.

0.00USD

Amount
0.00

TEXT AD: To advertise here – Email ad@matazarising.com

LATEST POSTS