Laolu Akande, ex-spokesperson of former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, has commended President Bola Tinubu for his speech at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
President Tinubu had on Wednesday highlighted the issues facing Africa, such as foreign exploitation of natural resources, human trafficking, forced migration and climate crisis.
Speaking on Channels Television on Thursday, Akande said the president has made an attempt to retake the significance of the Nigerian voice in the international community.
Akande asked Tinubu not to rest on his oars just yet and to proceed with formulating a clear foreign policy that backed up his speech at the UNGA on Wednesday.
The former presidential spokesman advised the president to gather together his foreign policy team and formulate a foreign policy that would take it from a speech to reality.
He said: โThe president has made an attempt to retake the significance of the Nigerian voice in the international community.
โThe 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. headtopics.com
โWhat must follow is a clear enunciation and articulation of a foreign policy that backs up the tone and attitude of the presidentโs speech at UNGA and then a matching up of those things, especially regarding the economic relationship.
โThe 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.ย
โHe has used this inaugural speech at the UN to say โWe donโt want business as usualโ. He must now formulate foreign policy that will articulate some of these important agendas he has set.
โSo 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.โ