President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday appealed to world leaders to do all they can to end the endemic unconstitutional takeover of power in West Africa, saying that such must not be tolerated by the international community.
In his speech at the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, the president warned that democratic gains of the past decades in the sub-region “are now being eroded” due to these negative trends.
He affirmed Nigeria’s support to efforts by ECOWAS, AU and the UN to address this growing challenge.
“As leaders of our individual member-states, we need to adhere to the constitutional provisions of our countries, particularly on term limits. This is one area that generates crisis and political tension in our sub-region,” he said.
President Buhari urged the international community not only to deal with the symptoms of conflict but also the immediate causes that fuel conflicts in the first place.
According to him, these include poor and undemocratic governance, human rights abuses, poverty, ignorance, injustice and inequalities.
“There are no easy solutions to these conditions. They require long-term investments and more effective international cooperation. In this connection, my delegation underscores the importance of promoting peaceful, unfettered, and inclusive participation of states in global actions towards conflict prevention.
“This will facilitate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union Agenda 2063,” he noted.
The president’s speech addressed other matters on the international agenda of interest to Nigeria, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Arms Trade Treaty, climate change, terrorism, anti-corruption, debt suspension, international trade, UN Security Council Reform, the Palestinian question, racial discrimination, among others.
On the issue of debt in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nigerian leader urged G20 countries to extend their debt suspension initiatives to all developing countries, least developed countries, small island developing states facing fiscal and liquidity challenges.
He also called for outright debt cancellation for countries facing the most severe challenges.
President Buhari commended the current initiatives by the international financial institutions and the G20 aimed at significantly mitigating the economic situation of the indebted countries and urged for more efforts in this regard.
“There is an urgent need to consider expansion and extension of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative to include all Developing, Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States facing fiscal and liquidity challenges.
“In addition, a review of the eligibility criteria for debt suspension, including outright cancellation, is needed for countries facing the most severe challenges,” he said.
Buhari also used the occasion to renew his advocacy for equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, outlining steps Nigeria has taken to achieve ‘moderate success’ in containing the virus and halt its deadly onslaught in the country.
He expressed appreciation for the assistance received from partners and friends all over the world, stressing that vaccination remains “the key to our safe emergence from the pandemic.”
“We fully support the COVAX initiative from which we have benefitted. We also thank the United States of America, Turkey, India, China, European Union, and others for the vaccines provided.
“Despite the acknowledgement, however, I would like to reiterate my call for a fairer and more equitable distribution of vaccines to all countries so that, together, we can fight and contain the pandemic,” he noted.
On the fight against terrorism, the president told the UN General Assembly that the Nigerian security forces have recorded considerable success.
“As a result of the renewed vigour of Nigeria’s military, many terrorist fighters are voluntarily surrendering to our security forces,” he said.
The president noted that while terrorism continues to dominate security discourse worldwide, in Nigeria, Boko Haram terrorists group, though fragmented by internal strife and weakened by the nation’s defence forces, is still active and preying on soft targets.
“Nigeria will continue to work closely with UN counter-terrorism bodies and entities with a view to bringing this scourge to an end.”
On international trade, President Buhari called for reforms that would engender recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, build resilience to future shocks and pursue transformative development strategies that can deliver the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The Nigerian leader also renewed the call for the reforms of the UN Security Council, stressing that intergovernmental negotiations on the issue was taking too long.
“No reform of the United Nations system is more urgent than that of the Security Council. Stakeholders around the world are asking how such power could be concentrated, with scant representation.
“The intergovernmental negotiations have taken too long, some 15 years.
“We must avoid going in circles. Consensus has been achieved in some of the elements of this reform, especially that of the representation of Africa on the basis of the Elzuwini consensus and the Sirte Declaration.
“It is unreasonable to expect unanimity in this matter. The issue, indeed, is about justice, not unanimity. Without justice, the legitimacy (even efficacy) of our organization is called to question.
‘‘We can and must make substantial, irreversible progress on Security Council reform in the current session,” he said.
On the Palestinian question, President Buhari encouraged Israel and Palestine to re-engage in dialogue based on relevant UN resolutions and initiatives.
“The two-state solution has the support of the international community and is widely acknowledged as the path to lasting peace,” he said.
He commended the outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and pledged Nigeria’s unalloyed support for multilateralism and faith in the UN as the pre-eminent body for solving current and emerging global challenges.