United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres yesterday pledged his support to the vision of the President-elect of the 74th UN General Assembly (UNGA), Ambassador Tijani Mohammad-Bande.
Guterres gave the assurance in his statement shortly after the election of Mohammad-Bande at the 87th plenary meeting of UNGA in New York, United States (U.S.).
The president-elect, who is Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, emerged through acclamation at an event witnessed by world diplomats and government officials from Nigeria.
Guterres said: “It is my pleasure to congratulate Prof. Tijani Mohammad-Bande as President of the 74th session of UNGA.
“Prof Bande, you bring many important and remarkable qualifications to the job. From your years as Permanent Representative of Nigeria, you know the UN well.
“From your wide ranging academic pursuit, you as an expert in political science and public administration and as a Nigeria and an Africa, you have invaluable insight into the continent’s challenges such as the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin, and more broadly to the challenges our world faces across the six pillars of our work – peace, sustainable development and human rights.
“We wish you well in your preparation for this role in the months ahead. Mr President-elect, we all look forward to working with you and you can count on my support, as we strive to reach our shared goals and uphold universal values.”
The outgoing President of the 73rd Assembly, Ms. Maria Espinosa, also congratulated Mohammad-Bande, describing him as the man for the job.
Read also: UN president visits Nigeria
She said: “Amb. Tijani’s career and experience both as a scholar and a diplomat should serve him and the General Assembly well in a session that promises to be pivotal.
“Amb. Bande is well seasoned to provide the strong and creative leadership our august assembly requires as he positions himself to be relevant in a world in rapid change.
“Your presidency, Ambassador, comes at a very critical moment for the United Nations and multilateralism.
“I am confident, however, that under your able leadership we will make meaningful progress to advance the implementation of 2030 agenda for sustainable development, in sustaining peace and conflict prevention as well as the promotion of human rights and the empowerment of women and girls.’’