Buhari scheduled to address world leaders

chika ebuzor

September 25, 2018 8:12 PM

President Buhari arrived in New York on Sunday for the annual high level event

Nigerian president, Buhari at a UN-meeting

President Muhammadu Buhari will this afternoon, also address the assembly of world leaders.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buhari has been rescheduled to be the 14th speaker as against number 18 earlier.

President Michel Temer of Brazil was the first speaker at the event followed by U.S. President Donald Trump as is traditional for any U.S. President, being the host country.

Buhari arrived in New York on Sunday for the annual high level event and on Monday, he attended the declaration of Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace at the UN headquarters, in commemoration of the Centenary celebration of the late anti-apartheid icon.

Guterres calls for rules-based order

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the world needs commitment to rules-based order as against the prevailing force-based order.

Guterres said this in his opening address to world leaders at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

He said today’s world was one where trust in national institutions, among states and in the rules-based global order was at a breaking point, calling for efforts to rebuild solidarity, repair broken trust and reinvigorate the spirit of multilateralism.

“As guardians of the common good, we also have a duty to promote and support a reformed, reinvigorated and strengthened multilateral system.

“We need commitment to a rules-based order, with the United Nations at its centre and with the different institutions and treaties that bring the Charter to life … There is no way forward but collective, commonsense action for the common good.”

Guterres’ annual opening message, which draws from his yearly report on the work of the UN, also highlighted the persisting challenges facing the people and the planet.

ALSO READ: Buhari lauds Mandela's virtues, condemns xenophobia

He also drew attention to increasing inequality and the “discrimination and demagoguery” faced by migrants and refugees, in the context of clearly insufficient international cooperation.

“It is our common duty to reverse these trends and resolve these challenges. We need to move ahead based on facts not fear, on reason, not illusion.

“Prevention must be at the centre of all we do,” he stressed, adding “this session of the General Assembly is a real opportunity for progress”.

chika ebuzor