Laolu Akande: Tinubu must articulate clear foreign policy to back UNGA speech

Laolu Akande, former presidential spokesperson, has commended President Bola Tinubu for the significance and tone of his speech at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

In his speech on Wednesday, Tinubu addressed issues concerning foreign exploitation of natural resources domiciled in Africa, human trafficking, forced migration and measures to tackle the climate crisis on the continent.

Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Thursday, Akande said the president should not rest on his oars just yet.

He said Tinubu should proceed with formulating a clear foreign policy that backs up his inaugural speech at the UNGA.

“The president has made an attempt to retake the significance of the Nigerian voice in the international community,” he said.

“The significance of Nigeria as a voice for the black race, as a voice for the African continent, as a voice for the developing world, a voice that can never be ignored.

“What must follow is a clear enunciation and articulation of a foreign policy that backs up the tone and attitude of the president’s speech at UNGA.

“And then a matching up of those things, especially regarding the economic relationship.

“The president must now gather together his foreign policy team. He needs to bring these people together to formulate a foreign policy that will take it from where he has stopped. 

“He has used this inaugural speech at the UN to say ‘We don’t want business as usual’. He must now formulate foreign policy that will articulate some of these important agendas he has set.

“So that the world can see that we have a new Nigeria that wants to retake its place in international relationships and also be the spokesperson of Africa and the developing world.”

Olisa Agbakoba, former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had said no African leader has spoken for the continent the way Tinubu did at the UNGA.

He added that the president’s speech was a “well-received statement”, with which Tinubu restated that “Africans are not beggars but equal partners” with the rest of the world.