I welcome this opportunity
to address this Assembly for the first time since I was
sworn in as President of my country, Nigeria, on 6 May
this year.
I extend sincere congratulations to Mr. Joseph
Deiss on his well-deserved election as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. Allow me
also to congratulate his predecessor on the skilful way
in which he conducted the affairs of the Assembly
during its sixty-fourth session. I also commend the
Secretary-General for the quality of his leadership. I
assure the President of the General Assembly of the
support and cooperation of the Nigerian delegation
throughout his tenure.
This session coincides with the fiftieth
anniversary of the independence of 17 African
countries, including my country, Nigeria. It is true that
the United Nations played an important role in the
acceleration of decolonization, in part through the
adoption of many resolutions supporting the right of
nations to self-determination. The independence and
subsequent admission of many of these countries into
the United Nations has greatly enhanced the
Organization’s legitimacy, thereby advancing the noble
goals of its Charter.
Nigeria was one of the countries to emerge from
colonialism in 1960 into a whole new world of
independence and sovereignty to take on the task of
nation-building and to play the international role that
destiny had conferred on us. Our participation in the
United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Congo
seven days after gaining our independence was the
direct and deliberate fulfilment of the international role
that we had set for ourselves as a people. Since then,
we have participated in numerous United Nations
peacekeeping missions, as well as in similar regional
endeavours. Nigeria has been and will continue to be
an active participant in the work of the United Nations,
striving therein to promote national, regional and
global objectives.
Despite many years of independence, many
countries still face the daunting challenges of nation-
building. It is in this connection that the Millennium
Summit of 2000 adopted a set of goals to be realized
by 2015. The outcome of the events related to the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that took
place recently here in New York inspires a real
appreciation of the enormous scope of the task ahead
for many countries, including ours. The urgency of the
action needed to address the situation has been clearly
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and unambiguously underscored in the intervening
discussions.
Even though we have achieved significant
improvements in the eradication of polio and other
child-related diseases, Nigeria still has its own fair
share of challenges to overcome. Progress on MDGs 4
and 5, which relate to the reduction of maternal and
child mortality, has been relatively slow. The weakness
of the primary health care system and limited referral
institutions remain crucial challenges in the health care
sector.
On the positive side, Nigeria has recorded
remarkable progress in the provision of universal basic
education, and we are also in the process of
harmonizing baseline data that will assist us in the
proper monitoring and evaluation of all MDG projects.
The Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria continues to be a prime
mechanism for addressing Millennium Development
Goal 6. Accordingly, Nigeria will remain both a donor
nation to and a recipient of the Fund. Having actively
participated during the first and second replenishments
with total contributions of $20 million, Nigeria will
make further contributions of $10 million during the
third replenishment. We will also call for the Muskoka
commitment to be met now, and the Global Fund to be
expanded to include MDGs 4 and 5 in support of the
Secretary-General’s Every Woman, Every Child
initiative.
Good governance, strict adherence to the rule of
law and respect for human rights remain fundamental
tenets of my administration. The consolidation and
safeguarding of our democracy are a task on which we
are beginning to see positive results. The smooth
succession of power since Nigeria’s return to
democratic rule in 1999, including my own ascension
to the presidency of our country after the demise of my
predecessor, is evidence of the commitment of all
stakeholders to democratic governance in the
knowledge that political stability is imperative to the
economic development of any nation.
As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of our
independence in a few days, we remember the
sacrifices of the founding fathers of our nation, as well
as our own responsibility to present and future
generations. In fulfilment of these aspirations, we are
firmly committed to holding free, fair and credible
elections during the 2011 general elections. In this
regard, we have taken the steps necessary to ensure the
success of the process. I assure the Assembly that
every vote will count in Nigeria.
We are also working to strengthen our
institutional structures for combating corruption,
financial crimes, and other vices, such as human and
drug trafficking. We are reforming the financial sector
to make it more accountable and transparent. This will
ensure that our country enjoys political stability, social
harmony and economic growth.
In support of our commitment to the global effort
to combat terrorism, we continue to strengthen and
expand our institutional capacities to tackle all forms
of extremism. In fact, we currently have two bills — a
counter-terrorism bill and an anti-money laundering
bill — before our National Assembly, and I am
confident they will be enacted into law before the end
of the current legislative year.
Soon after I assumed the leadership of my
country as acting President, I was invited by the
President of the United States of America to a mini-
summit on nuclear disarmament in Washington, D.C.,
in April this year. Like all previous Nigerian leaders, I
share the American President’s vision of a world free
of nuclear weapons, and I will continue to collaborate
with him and all humankind for the realization of this
laudable goal. Our support for and active participation
in the adoption of the Pelindaba Treaty is evidence of
our commitment to the total elimination of nuclear
weapons. This conforms with our status as a signatory
to the major treaties on nuclear disarmament.
At the same time, small arms and light weapons
have destabilized the African continent, fuelled and
prolonged conflicts, and obstructed relief programmes.
They have also undermined peace initiatives, increased
human rights abuses, hampered development and,
perhaps more worrisome, fostered a culture of
organized crime and violence. We note, however, that
the illicit trade in and proliferation of small arms and
light weapons do not receive adequate attention.
Nigeria calls on the United Nations to take firm action
to control the proliferation of small arms and light
weapons by adopting an arms trade treaty.
It is estimated that there are approximately 100
million of these weapons in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
These weapons have been identified as having killed
more people in the African continent than any other
type of weapon. However, unlike for nuclear, chemical
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and biological weapons, there are no global treaties or
legally binding instruments for dealing with the
challenges posed by small arms and light weapons. It
must be underscored that the dumping of these
weapons in Africa and their free use are among the
greatest challenges facing African leaders today. These
weapons encourage impunity, transborder crime, armed
robbery, piracy, kidnapping and the rape of innocent
women. In general, their presence hampers economic
growth because no one wants to invest in a nation or
region that is prone to crisis. We know of
approximately 300 companies that produce and trade
such small arms and light weapons in approximately 50
countries around the world. And we believe that it is
time for the United Nations to come on strong if it
truly wants to help Africa get out of the woods.
In my capacity as Chairman of the Economic
Community of West African States, I am pleased to
report that we have made substantial progress in
bringing peace and stability to countries in the
Community that were until recently embroiled in
political crises. This has greatly improved the situation
across the subregion, which in turn has enhanced the
peace and security that are critical to development. We
will continue to build on these achievements to
consolidate stability and engender prosperity in the
subregion.
Nigeria chose the theme of preventive diplomacy
for an open debate it convened during its presidency of
the Security Council in July 2010 (see S/PV.6360) to
highlight the importance that it attaches to conflict
prevention. It is obvious that preventing conflicts is a
cheaper option for maintaining peace and security than
peacekeeping. I urge the United Nations to devote
renewed attention to preventive diplomacy. The
increasing financial burden of peacekeeping and the
high human cost of conflict are good reasons for the
United Nations to pursue with vigour the adoption of
preventive diplomacy in the spirit of the provisions of
Chapters VI and VII of the Charter of the United
Nations.
For Nigeria, a major contributor of troops to
peacekeeping operations around the world, it is
essential that the rules of engagement be reviewed to
prevent high casualty rates among contingents. It
deeply saddens us to see troops wearing the United
Nations colours being waylaid and murdered because
of the rules of engagement.
The theme for the sixty-fifth session of the
General Assembly — “Reaffirming the central role of
the United Nations in global governance” — is timely
and appropriate. The need for the United Nations to
provide leadership in addressing problems and
challenges of a global nature is imperative. We urge the
Organization to quicken the pace of reform, not only to
better reflect current global realities, but also to ensure
that it enjoys genuine legitimacy. Good governance
requires participation by all nations and all peoples of
the world.
The early reform and, in particular, expansion of
the Security Council will accord the United Nations
greater effectiveness in global good governance. The
exclusion of the African States from the Council’s
permanent membership category can no longer be
justified.
I would like to reaffirm Nigeria’s abiding faith in
the role of the United Nations in the pursuit of our
common goals for the benefit of all humankind. We
therefore pledge our continued support for the
Organization, in order to strengthen it, as a way of
identifying with the ideals for which it stands.
In conclusion, I wish to thank all Member States
for their kind words of condolence and sympathy in
honour of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua at
an Assembly meeting last May (see A/64/PV.86). Even
though he is gone, his legacy lives on, as my
Administration continues to implement the
programmes we had jointly designed during his time as
President of our country and while I was second-in-
command. May his soul rest in peace.