President leaves Daura for One Planet Summit in France

President Muhammadu Buhari has left his native Daura, Katsina State and headed for Paris, France to meet with other world leaders for the One Planet Summit slated to take place on Tuesday, December 12, 2017.

The president's departure was disclosed by his Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, on his Twitter account , on Monday, December 11.

[No available link text]

The president was accompanied by Adamawa State governor, Jibrilla Bindow; Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje; Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema; and Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jibrin.

According to a press statement signed by the president's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Sunday, December 10, the president will attend a lunch hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France for Heads of State and Governments at the Elysee Palace, before heading for the venue of the summit.

The statement read, "The summit, jointly organised by the United Nations, the World Bank Group, and the French Government in partnership with non-governmental organisations concerned about reversing the negative effects of climate change, like Bloomberg Philanthropies, holds at the eco-friendly La Seine Musicale, situated on the picturesque Seguin Island in western Paris.

"The main focus of the summit, with the theme, "Climate Change Financing," according to the organisers, will be to innovatively pool public and private finance "to support and accelerate our common efforts to fight climate change."

"While recognising that all countries are affected by the effects of climate change under "One Planet" but some are more vulnerable, the summit seeks for tangible collective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Before heading for the Summit venue, the Nigerian leader will attend a lunch hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France for Heads of State and Governments at the Elysee Palace.

"President Buhari and other world leaders and participants will make presentations under four sub-themes namely: Scaling-up Finance for Climate Action; Greening Finance for Sustainable Business; Accelerating Local and Regional Climate Action; and Strengthening Policies for Ecological and Inclusive Transition.

"It would be recalled that while signing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change at the sidelines of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 22, 2016, President Buhari had said it "demonstrated Nigeria's commitment to global efforts to reverse the effects of the negative trend."

"He followed that significant step by signing the Instrument of Ratification of the Paris Agreement on March 28, 2017 at the State House, Abuja, making Nigeria the 146th party to the Paris Treaty.

"It became binding on the country effective June 15, 2017, one month after the submission of the Ratification instrument to the United Nations on May 16, 2017 by Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande.

"The participation of Nigeria's delegation at the One Planet Summit will reinforce the country's commitment to realising the objectives of the Paris Agreement."

The president is expected to return to Abuja on Thursday, December 14.

Daura stay

Before the president's departure for France, he had travelled to his hometown of Daura to rest after a two-day visit to Kano State.

The president had commissioned a host of projects by the state governor, Ganduje, and also met with political and traditional leaders in the state.

Recent trips abroad

The president's trip to France is his third foreign trip in the space of two weeks after recent work visits to Cote d'Ivoire and Jordan.

The president went to Jordan to attend a 2-day counter-terrorism summit tagged Aqaba Retreat between December 2 and December 3.

The trip came barely 24 hours after returning from the 5th European Union-African Union (EU-AU) summit that took place in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire between November 28 and 29.