A Professor of Political Science, Femi Otubanjo, on Saturday said Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande’s election as President of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly would give Nigeria a lot of international exposure.
Otubanjo, the Dean, Faculty of Arts, Management and Social Sciences at Chrisland University, Abeokuta, made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, was on Tuesday elected as President of the 74th UN General Assembly.
Muhammad-Bande, the sole candidate for the position, was elected by acclamation at the 87th plenary meeting of the Assembly in New York.
He is the second Nigerian to hold the office after Joseph Garba, a retired military officer and diplomat, who led the organ between 1989 and 1990.
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Otubanjo said: “Muhammad-Bande’s emergence as President of the UNGA might not be an executive position where one has the power to influence decisions but it is a ceremonial one.
“It is a great ceremonial honour that a Nigerian is in that position because it will give our country a lot of international exposure.
“The whole world will reckon with Nigeria for having another national serving as President of the UNGA.’’
Muhammad-Bande, an indigene of Kebbi State, has had a distinguished career as a scholar and administrator.
A former Vice Chancellor of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (2004 to 2009), he served as Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru (April 2010 – February 2016).
He had also served previously as Director-General, Centre African de Formation et de Reserch Administrative pour le Development (CAFPAD), Tangier, Morocco from January 2000 to February 2004).
(NAN)