The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will on Tuesday 3 May, begin a two-day mission to Nigeria. During the mission, he will have an audience with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. President Muhammadu Buhari; the Vice President, H.E. Prof Yemi Osinbajo; Religious Leaders; Women and Youth Leaders; the Private Sector and the Diplomatic community.
The UN Scribe’s trip was contained In a media advisory signed and made available to Newsclickng.com on Friday by the duo of Ronald Kayanja and Dr. Oluwaseyi Soremekun, Director and National Information Officer respectively of UN Information Centre (UNIC), Lagos.
The Secretary-General will visit the Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, in Maiduguri, north-east Nigeria on Tuesday, 3 May and thereafter proceed on a field mission to meet families deeply affected by violence and instability in north-east Nigeria, including people internally displaced and refugees. Mr. Guterres will also see first-hand the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities and will assess progress and challenges to the COVID-19 recovery.
Secretary-General will have meetings with senior government officials as well as civil society representatives, including women, youth groups and religious leaders.
This will be the first mission of the ninth UNSG to Nigeria.
United Nations Scribe, will be accompanied by Ms. Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel; Mr. Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, UNOWAS
Below are summary of the UNSG’s Itinery and timeline of his first mission to Nigeria:
1.Engages with Governor Babagana Zulum in Maiduguri on Tuesday 3rd May.
2. Engages with IDPs, and beneficiaries of the Stabilisation project in Banki on 3rd May.
3. Press stakeout at the Airport Maiduguri on 3rd May
4. Meets with President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday 4th May
5. Press stake-out at the courtyard of Presidential villa on Wednesday 4th May
Meets with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Wednesday 4th May
6. Wreath-laying ceremony at UN House in honour of victims of the bomb blast at the UN House in 2011, on Wednesday 4th May
7. Separate engagements with Youth Leaders, Women Leaders, Religious Leaders, the Private, and the Diplomatic Community at the UN House on Wednesday 4th May.
Newsclick Nigeria learnt authoritatively that this trip is part of the Secretary-General’s annual Ramadan solidarity visits, and he will apart from visiting Nigeria, will also go to Niger and Senegal, during which he will also highlight the impact of the Ukraine war on the African continent.
Mr. Antonio Guterres began annual Ramadan solidarity visits when he was High Commissioner for Refugees, but the tradition was interrupted by the pandemic. This year, he will also use the visit to express his solidarity with victims of terrorism in the region.
