The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Friday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his leadership roles in the West African sub-region and the continent as a whole.

Guterres, according to a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, gave the commendation during a meeting with Buhari on the sidelines of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, United States.

The UN chief expressed concern that Africa, especially West Africa seen generally as the home of stability and good governance, had witnessed a dramatic change in fortune in recent years with the military toppling democratically elected leaders in some parts of the sub-region.

He, therefore, urged President Buhari to continue to show leadership as he looked up to Nigeria to help stabilize the sub-region in terms of democracy and good governance.

On terrorism, Guterres commended the efforts of Nigeria on this global phenomenon.

He assured the Nigerian leader of the UN’s continued support in the efforts at addressing the prevailing security and humanitarian challenges that had arisen especially with the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

He also commended Nigeria’s efforts on climate change and the global body’s expressing willingness to cooperate with the country on the matter.

President Buhari applauded Guterres for his leadership and the success of the UNGA76.

He assured the UN Secretary-General that Nigeria had achieved appreciable successes in tackling the insecurity caused by terrorists and bandits in the Northern part of the country.