by Bayo Adeyinka
I’ve been following the United Nations General Assembly meetings going on in New York. And except you’re downright mischievous, you will not fail to notice that Nigeria has not been adequately represented. As a matter of fact, so many blunders have been committed. I’ve also followed the itinerary of Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of Kenya and one of the shining lights of Africa.
By the way, if you’re not following Uhuru Kenyatta on social media, you are missing a great chance to have a breather from the odoriferous atmosphere of Nigerian politics.
Let’s just do a comparison of what Uhuru and Buhari have achieved between September 26 and today. And then, judge for yourselves:
UHURU KENYATTA
1. Held bilateral talks with PM of Antigua & Barbuda. At the 2013 UN General Assembly meeting, Antigua openly called for reparations for slavery. Tourism also dominates its economy. Could these be areas of possible partnership?
2. Held bilateral talks with PM of Guyana.
3. Co-chaired high level panel discussion on AIDS
4. Chaired a GLOBAL LEADER’s meeting on Gender Equality & Women Empowerment alongside the President of China
5. International Telecommunications Union awarded him the “ICT in Sustainable Development Award” on the sidelines.
6. Was at the Japan-Africa Regional Economic Communities Summit Roundtable chaired by the PM of Japan.
7. Attended the High Level event on “Every Woman- Every Child” hosted by the UN Secretary General.
8. Held bilateral talks with PM of Japan.
9. Met with Kerry Adler, CEO of Skypower Global who announced his company will double the $2.2b it agreed to invest in Kenya.
10. First Lady of Kenya invited by UN Secretary General to address maternal health, HIV and AIDS and widening access to healthcare for the marginalized.
11. 11-year old Kenyan, Elijan Lemayan received a standing ovation as he shared his heart-breaking story on living with HIV/AIDS. He was invited to the UN General Assembly after an official heard his story through Uhuru Kenyatta.
He is still expected to meet with Prime Minister of UK, Mr David Cameron, the President of Latvia, Mr Raimonds Vejonis and the Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr Stefan Loften.
Meanwhile, Uhuru Kenyatta had his itinerary clearly planned days before the General Assembly began. You can see proof here http://www.president.go.ke/…/busy-schedule-for-president-k…/.
MUHAMMADU BUHARI
1. Buhari missed the UN meeting on Boko Haram. His spokesman explained it away as a ‘low level meeting’. The UN Under-Secretary insisted Nigeria was invited. Meanwhile, the PMs of Niger and Chad were present.
2. Buhari missed meeting with the Pope. He came late and also took the wrong gate. This has been blamed on embassy officials- the same civil servants Buhari recently praised as doing the work. I expect Ambassdor Joy Ogwu to be the fall guy.
3. Buhari was missing at the Japan-Africa Regional Economic Roundtable. Was he not invited again?
4. Buhari met with former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown alongside Obasanjo. Gordon Brown is the worst UK PM in recent times. Of what value is the meeting with an expired leader?
5. Buhari met with Bill Clinton. You can also meet with Bill Clinton for a fee. Nduka Obaigbena does and he’s not President. Bill Clinton will do photo-ops with anyone who pays- that’s what he lives on now.
6. Buhari addressed the General Assembly. I don’t want to consider the actual speech in itself. Nevertheless, this is good. But then it is not true that Buhari is the first Nigerian President to address the UN General Assembly. Former President Jonathan addressed the 68th General Assembly. It’s on YouTube.
7. Buhari held bilateral meeting with Don Felipe, King of the Kingdom of Spain. While nominally, Felipe is the Chief Executive, it is basically a “ceremonial and representative role”. Spain has a PM.
Nigeria did not appear even ONCE on the list of speakers at ANY of the interactive dialogues. This is a FACT. You can check the UN’s full list here http://www.un.org/…/2015_September_24_Interactive-dialogues…. But Kenya, Mali, Niger and even Somalia were on the list. So what did we go there to do?
However, we need to celebrate our own Jim Ovia who stood alongside Mark Zuckenberg and gave a good account of himself. This is the same man who was not allowed to meet with the President in a foreign land a few weeks ago. Apart from Akinwumi Adeshina, he’s the only Nigerian on the list of those invited from the private sector around the world.
Can we see our President’s itinerary? Well, you get what you pay for- even a NEPA bill.
Bayo Adeyinka is a political commentator. He can be reached on Facebook here.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
