President Muhammadu Buhari has once again proved to be the champion of Africa’s causes with his afro-centric position at the ongoing UN Climate Change Summit (COP 26) in Scotland.
Making this assertion in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), said that the President is already showing capacity for the leadership of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall that he would soon assume.
“Even before President Buhari arrived in Glasgow for the event, he had made a Pan-African demand, through a widely circulated opinion piece, for the more developed nations to tread carefully in their push for an energy source that could endanger the African continent.
“In the article titled ‘The Climate Crisis Will Not be Fixed by Causing an Energy Crisis in Africa’, the President delivered a message on a possible crisis situation which many African leaders would have been reticent about, but which clearly resonated across countries.
“His concerns centered around the rush to phase out fossil fuels and embark on what he described as a new global race in lithium for batteries for electric cars as well as how it could eventually endanger geopolitical stability in Africa.
“We see this as totally in President Buhari’s character as the champion of African causes and we have not been surprised to see him using the Summit to again draw global attention to the situation at the Lake Chad, as well as the challenges of desertification.
“These are some of the issues that have had negative impact on the continent for years and we make bold to say that President Buhari will certainly leverage on his impending role as the head of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall to achieve some results.
“We also note how the President told the audience of world leaders that Nigeria plans to prioritize the education of local communities and the use of technology in order to address the physical and socio-economic aspects and effects of desertification, drought and climate change”.
BMO added that this was not the first time in recent years that the President would be taking issues that are important to African countries to the global stage.
“We recall how he used his speech at the UN General Assembly in September this year to make a case for debt relief for less developed countries in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic which he argued was affecting the capacity of many of the countries to repay loans before the pandemic.
“So we dare say that Africa has a real champion of its cause at the global stage in President Buhari”, it said.
BMO also assured Nigerians that the President will not abandon his duties in the country while championing regional causes.