Nigeria’s UN envoy bags Boston University Alumni Award

The Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, Prof. Muhammad Bande, has been conferred with the Distinguished Alumni Award by Boston University (BU), Massachusetts, United States.
Bande was conferred with the award at the ’73rd Best of BU Alumni Awards’ ceremony in Boston in recognition of “his innovative performance as the 74th President of the UN General Assembly” from Sept. 17, 2019, to Sept. 15, 2020.
Boston University particularly recognised his “innovative working method as he prioritised the issues he set out to address” during his presidency and also for “developing effective and comprehensive response to COVID-19″ when the pandemic struck.
Prof. Muhammad Bande, delivering his acceptance after being conferred with the Distinguished Alumni Award by Boston University, Massachusetts, United States.
Prof. Muhammad Bande, delivering his acceptance after being conferred with the Distinguished Alumni Award by Boston University, Massachusetts, United States.
This comes three months after he was conferred with the Global Leadership in International Relations Award by the International Police and Veterans Foundation for his outstanding performance towards rallying the world to combat the menace of COVID-19 during his tenure.
According to the Dean, Faculty of Art and Science, Boston University, Prof. Stan Sclaroff, he was inspired by the leadership style of Bande and his commitment to serving humanity.
“I’m personally and deeply inspired by his enduring commitment to make a world a better place, his commitment in health and humanitarian efforts globally.
“He is a prominent figure nationally and now recognised as one of our alumni.
“Our current students look at him as a role model today. We are very proud of him as alumni of Faculty of Art and Science,” he said.
Diplomats at the UN had expressed concerns that it would be impossible for the assembly to do its job when COVID-19 started spreading and countries began to impose lockdown.
The UN General Assembly under Bande’s leadership, however, passed over 70 decisions and resolutions at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic through an innovative method called “silence procedure”.
Silence procedure is an online decision-making method adopted by member states following the suspension of in-personal plenary meetings at the UN headquarters to avoid the spread of the disease.
Among the resolutions adopted was the “omnibus resolution” titled “Comprehensive and coordinated response to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic”, calling for holistic COVID-19 response.