Nigeria’s presidency has said that a fake version of President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly today, is in circulation.
President Buhari who arrived New York on Sunday, is billed to address the 72nd UN General Assembly today when the debate opens.
He has been listed as the eighth speaker of the 193 Head of States expected to address the General Debate of the General Assembly.
He will deliver Nigeria’s National Statement.
On Monday, he held a briefing session with Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama and other Nigerian diplomats.
In a tweet early on Tuesday, the Presidency warned that a fake version of the speech yet to be delivered is in circulation.
There’s a fake Speech circulating online as the text of President @MBuhari‘s #UNGA Address, to be delivered Tuesday. Please DISREGARD it.
— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) September 19, 2017
The theme for this year’s debate is ‘Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet’.
The president will also join other world leaders at the welcoming reception to be hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and hold a bilateral meeting with the UN chief.
Aside other high-level engagement, he will have a lunch meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, along with other world leaders.
Here is an excerpt of the fake speech being circulated in social media.
“Every year we gather here to deliberate on the affairs of the world. Sometimes we implement what we talked about and move humanity an inch closer to that ideal relationship as members of the world community.
“At other times, we have our talks and end up not implementing anything to the disappointment of millions and millions of people around the world who look up to this body to provide leadership in a world that is constantly oscillating between advancement and doom. In all of these, we often forget that what we have accomplished in the last 72 years is unprecedented in the annals of human history. The world may be badly governed, but the fact that there is a form of governance agreed upon by all is an accomplishment in and of itself. So, I congratulate us all.
“Mr. President, as we say in Nigeria, he who does not look ahead remains behind. Our charge now is to aspire to make this world better for the next generation. We, the generation that knows how the world was before the United Nations was formed, must bequeath to those coming behind us a better United Nations that would be in a position to deal with the challenges of tomorrow. To accomplish that, we need to fast forward the reformation long proposed in this chamber.
“To restructure or not to restructure is no longer the question – the United Nations must be restructured for it to remain relevant in years to come. How to restructure the United Nations should be our priority number one. Several ideas are out there.
“All that we need is to get them together and agree on what works for majority of the people of this world. As a leader of one of the leading African nations, I want to see a United Nation’s Security Council that is expanded to have one or two African permanent members with veto powers. It is a fair thing to do – one that will benefit the world by giving it a chance for a more balanced outlook to matters of importance to us all. As we have learned in Nigeria, sometimes you need to change in order to remain the same. It is the first principle of renewal.”
NAN
