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President Buhari’s very strange response at UNGA -By Azuka Onwuka

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Buhari at UNGA

Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari created some furore in the country with the response he gave to a question at the United Nations General Assembly. His media aide, Bashir Ahmad, circulated a video where the President, at a panel discussion session, was asked specifically: “President Buhari, Nigeria has a very young population. Perhaps you might highlight what the pathway for a resilient future looks like.”

Buhari, who was seated with four other heads of state, pulled out a prepared speech and began to respond as follows:

“Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I share the sentiment expressed by the Secretary-General that the world is on the verge of climate catastrophe. Undeniably, Climate Change is a human-induced phenomenon.

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“It is now imperative that we must step up our collective climate actions in line with the request of the Secretary-General. It is in this regard that I wish to reiterate Nigeria’s commitment to its obligation under the Paris Agreement, the aspirations enshrined in our Nationally Determined Contribution and ensure a resilient future that mainstreams climate risks in our decision making.

“I want to announce that the Government of Nigeria will develop a more robust sectorial action plan, and expand the scope of our Sovereign Green Bonds in line with our intended upward review of Nigeria’s NDC’s towards the inclusion of the water and waste sectors by 2020.

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Azuka Onwuka
Azuka Onwuka

“In the water sector, Nigeria will issue a Green Bond for irrigation and construct multi-purpose dams for power, irrigation and water supply. We will strengthen solid and liquid waste management systems to attract more private sector investors.

“We will take concrete steps to harness climate innovative ideas by including youths in decision-making processes as part of our overall climate governance architecture. We will mobilise Nigerian youths towards planting 25 million trees to enhance Nigeria’s carbon sink.

“In the energy sector, Nigeria is presently diversifying its energy sources from dependence on gas-powered system to hydro, solar, wind, biomass and nuclear sources. Specifically, Nigeria is progressively working to realise 30 per cent energy efficiency and renewable energy mix by 2030. This is envisaged to lead to 179 million tons of carbon dioxide reduction per annum by 2030.

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“In addition, our Administration intends to develop a shelterbelt across 11 States of the Federation spanning a distance of 1,500 km and 15km across through the Great Green Wall initiative. Furthermore, the Federal Government has commenced the implementation of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Programme in Ogoniland, to recover the carbon sink potential of the mangrove ecosystem of the one thousand square kilometres (1,000 KM2) polluted site in the affected area.”

President Buahri went on to talk about the seventy-four million tons of carbon dioxide per annum that will be unlocked through relevant technologies, advocacy and best practices. He spoke about the how Lake Chad basin has shrunk and how Nigeria would continue to lead in efforts to have solid partnerships for the ecological restoration and recharge of the Lake. He then concluded by noting that he was happy that the Secretary-General and some of the member states represented in the hall were partnering with Nigeria in this fight against climate change. He thanked them for their cooperation and said he looked forward to deepening partnership with them.

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At first when I saw it, I said it was not possible. I said even though Buhari was known for veering off tangent on many occasions, this looked strongly like a doctored speech. I felt that the speech he delivered at the General Assembly was cut and superimposed on this as his response to the question. The first reason for this was that all through his response, the camera focused on him without showing his fellow panellists. Secondly, one can deliver a speech from a prepared text at the start of a panel discussion, but it is strange for one to read a prepared text as a response to a question. It is like meeting someone who has asked you: “What’s your name?” and you pull out a speech to respond to the person.  Thirdly, the response started by referring to the Commonwealth Secretary General who had no connection with the question. The question was his plan for the future in a country with high youth population. His response was about climate change.

Shockingly, the presidency released a statement justifying the response of the President as appropriate and direct to the point. That confirmed to everybody that indeed the video was not doctored. One wonders why the President of a country would use a prepared speech to respond to a question asked during a panel discussion. Before attending that session, the discussants must have been given the topic that would be discussed, so that they could prepare well and be abreast of the key issues involved. But then, what is too technical about knowing what to reply to a question of what plans the President has for its young population? There are some who are of the opinion that perhaps he misplaced the prepared speeches by reading the wrong one to the question asked.

Still photographs from that discussion session showed his colleagues all looking at him with a shocking look on their faces. They would be wondering why his response was off the mark and why he had to read his response from a paper.

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President Buhari has made it crystal clear that he does not have the capacity to speak ex tempore. On many occasions he has gone off-point. On some occasions he has been shown with a short text pasted on the wall of a project he was about to commission. So he had to read that line before cutting the tape. It is obvious that those who work with him know that he has this shortcoming.

Consequently, they should block all avenues for him to talk to people ex tempore or respond to questions. If, for example, he has to attend the United Nations event, he can read his speech to the general assembly, but refuse to participate in any discussion session, because questions are going to be directed at him.

When the President performs poorly outside, he is not the only one who takes the bashing. Nigeria as a country takes part of the hit. So it is better he does not show up at certain events than cause the nation periodic embarrassment.

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Curiously, President Buhari is always too eager to fly out of Nigeria to attend events across the continent and the world. He seems to derive special joy from travelling out of Nigeria.

Nigeria is a country where people’s health challenges are hidden because it is seen as a taboo for one to have certain health challenge. That was why all the periods Buhari has been away for medical treatment, the nation was not told what was wrong with him. In countries where health challenges are not shrouded in mystery, a political office holder gives the public a blow-by-blow account of any health challenge.

Another issue is that in countries that are progress-driven, people look at their overall health situation and tell themselves the truth about their capacity to hold public office. Public service demands full physical alertness and psychological alertness. Public service is not a place where one goes on retirement. It is more demanding than other endeavours, because the actions and inactions of the public servant can make or mar the lives of millions of people. If a person does not have the all-round capacity to be a leader, it is a disservice to the country to hold that country to ransom by being at the head. And for a country like Nigeria that is facing a lot of challenges ranging from insecurity to poverty to hunger to infrastructure deficit, it is a big minus for its leader to consistently show signs of lack of capacity.

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