Tijjani Muhammad-Bande

Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (born 7 December 1957) is a Nigerian diplomat, academic and political scientist who was the president of the United Nations General Assembly 74th session from 17 September 2019 to 15 September 2020. He previously served as vice president of the 71st session from September 2016 to September 2017. He has served as Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 2017.

From 2010 to 2016, he was the director general of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Nigeria, and was the vice chancellor of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University from 2004 to 2009.

In January 2021, he was re-listed by President Buhari as the permanent representative to the United Nations, New York.

Early life
Muhammad-Bande was born and educated in Zagga, a town in present-day Kebbi State.

Education
He attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria where he received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1979 before proceeding to Boston University, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in political science in 1981. Muhammad-Bande received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Toronto in 1987.

Career
In the 1980s, he taught at the Usman Danfodio University in Sokoto and rose to the rank of professor in 1998. Between 2000 and 2004, Bande served as the director-general of the African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development in Tangier, Morocco. Between 2004 and 2009, he served as vice chancellor of Usman Danfodio University before being appointed director-general of Nigeria's National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, a position he held from 2010 to 2016.

Personal life
He is married with four children.