Nigeria, 2009

On behalf of the

Nigerian delegation, I wish to congratulate His

Excellency Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on his election as

the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-

fourth session. I have no doubt that the Assembly will

benefit from his wealth of experience and wisdom. Let

me therefore affirm the full support and solidarity of

my country. Similarly, I wish to commend the

President of the Assembly at its sixty-third session, His

Excellency Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, for the

able and effective manner with which he conducted the

affairs of that session.

Last year when we gathered here, we were

hopeful that the world would soon put behind it the

devastating impact of the various global crises in the

energy, agriculture and financial sectors. However, in

spite of the efforts by the international community, the

developing world is yet to experience any serious

relief. There is no doubt that more than ever before the

international community needs to fulfil its

commitments to the developing world if more than half

of humanity is to avoid an imminent calamity.

In this connection we welcome and applaud the

efforts of the United Nations, in particular the outcome

of the United Nations Conference on the World

Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on

Development held in New York last June . We call for

the support and implementation of the recommendations

of the conference and hope they will receive the

unconditional support of the developed nations.

Equally important is the need for global efforts to

boost food security. We need to increase food

production, whether for domestic consumption or for

export, which requires collaboration among investors,

organizations and Governments. It is relevant here to

reiterate our call for the removal of the enormous

agricultural subsidies that developed countries continue

to give their farmers, a practice that defies the logic of

a free market economy and remains unfair to millions

of poor peasant farmers across the world.

As we approach the countdown to 2015, a

convergence of many factors, including the global

economic crisis, is threatening not only the

achievement of the targets for the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs), but also the substantial

gains already made. Unless we act fast, our dream of

lifting the vast majority of humanity out of extreme

poverty, hunger and disease will remain an illusion.

Donors and recipient countries alike should make more

effort to fulfil their commitments under the

programme. For our part, we are determined to do all

we can in order to attain the MDG targets, and we are

calling on the international community to continue to

provide support.

The African Summit on Roll Back Malaria, which

was held in Abuja in 2000, adopted the Abuja

Declaration and the Plan of Action to reduce malaria

by 50 per cent in Africa by 2010. To achieve this goal,

African countries affected by malaria were expected to

devote 15 per cent of their public expenditures to the

health sector.

Although considerable efforts have been made by

the affected countries, as well as by donor agencies, the

goal of Roll Back Malaria has not been realized.

Malaria remains by far the biggest killer disease for

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children under 5-years old in Africa. This should weigh

heavy on the global conscience.

Africa is committed to the goal of eliminating

malaria, and to this end, Nigeria intends to host the

Abuja-Plus Ten Summit on Roll Back Malaria in 2011.

We would therefore appreciate the support of the

Secretary-General, not only to make the proposed

summit possible, but also to facilitate the realization of

its objective.

The quality of participation at the just concluded

2009 Summit on Climate Change was a testimony to

the global realization that climate change has truly

become seen as a genuine existential threat to

humanity. I commend the Secretary-General for his

consistent engagement with this most important issue

of our time, and call on all Member States to rededicate

themselves to reversing the worst effects of this

phenomenon.

For us in Africa, as the continent where,

unfortunately, 15 of the world’s 20 countries most

vulnerable to the impact of climate change are situated,

we hope that the outcome of the fifteenth Conference

of the Parties to the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change coming up in

Copenhagen later this year will be an acceptable

response to this global threat.

Even in the middle of this tale of global economic

and financial woes, there is a silver lining. We are

gratified and greatly encouraged by the increasing

rapprochement between the United States and Russia

on nuclear disarmament. The idea of a nuclear-free

world, the architecture of which is now being put

together, has great appeal for many of us.

Such an outcome, probably achievable in our

lifetime, would not only result in a safer and better

world, but would free resources for use in sectors that

would benefit humanity. Nigeria encourages all nuclear

Powers to identify with this great initiative, this dream,

and to embrace any and all initiatives that promote the

achievement of the goal of a world free of nuclear

armaments and the apocalyptic nightmare.

It is in this connection that Nigeria applauds the

conclusion and bringing into force of the Pelindaba

Treaty, the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty,

which bans the testing, manufacturing, stockpiling,

acquisition and possession of nuclear weapons in

Africa. This is a commendable testimony to Africa’s

total rejection of the proliferation, and indeed the

existence, of nuclear weapons. We call on all other

regions to follow suit. The Review Conference of the

Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons coming up next year provides an

opportunity that should not be missed.

While we applaud this development, let us not

forget that there are weapons still being produced that

have killed far more people than nuclear arms in the

tragic history of humanity. I speak, in particular, about

the production of small arms and light weapons and

their illicit export to regions like my own, Nigeria and

West Africa, where these small arms and light weapons

have become the real weapons of mass destruction —

destroying many lives of innocent children, men and

women, destroying property, economies and dreams —

as well as the undermining of national and regional

efforts at development.

We are all aware of the close link between such

weapons and organized crime, drug trafficking and, in

the case of Nigeria, piracy and oil smuggling in the

Niger Delta. The proliferation of such weapons in West

Africa is fast turning the region into a major transit

point for illicit drugs, thus also facilitating the growth

of criminal syndicates, some with enough firepower to

challenge a nation’s military forces. This cannot be just

a West African problem. It should be seen as a global

threat.

This is why we continue to call on the

international community to demonstrate greater

commitment to keeping this threat in check by

implementing existing initiatives, as well as developing

new and legally binding ones, where necessary, geared

towards achieving the goal of preventing, combating

and eradicating illicit trade in small arms, and

regulating the transfer of conventional weapons in

general. The full implementation of the United Nations

Programme on Small Arms would be a very good

beginning.

Although over the past decade, West Africa has

made considerable progress by way of building or

strengthening democratic structures in our various

countries, the job is far from done, and this is not the

time to rest on our laurels. Peace and security

challenges remain daunting in some parts of the

subregion. As current Chairperson of the Economic

Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

43 09-52604

Mr. Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua sent a special envoy, in

fact a former Head of State, the former President of

Nigeria, to President Mamadou Tandja of the Republic

of Niger with a view to establishing a line of

communication with him in favour of a peaceful

resolution of the political problems of our esteemed

neighbour to the north. A delegation of ECOWAS

Foreign Ministers undertook a similar visit with the

same objective. Our role is largely mediatory, but we

are waiting with cautious optimism for the democratic

imperative in the Republic of the Niger to be upheld.

The situation in Guinea-Bissau is somewhat more

cheerful. Guinea-Bissau held successful elections last

July and, as members may already be aware, President

Malam Bacai Sanhá was sworn in on 8 September.

Because of the strong commitment on the part of all

stakeholders in Guinea-Bissau, this peaceful transition

to democratic, constitutional rule has taken place. We

are indeed very proud of what the Government and the

people of Guinea-Bissau have been able to achieve.

Guinea-Bissau can now look forward with hope to a

peaceful and bright future, and Nigeria will continue to

stand side by side with that country as it charts its

destiny for the future.

In Guinea-Conakry, where elections have again

been slated for next January, we continue to impress on

the authorities the need for the country to return to

democratic rule through manifestly transparent, free

and fair elections. We hope that these efforts will yield

dividends in the form of an elected civilian government

early next year. Our own experience and history in

Nigeria leave us with no other choice than to remain

unwaveringly and unambiguously on the side of the

consolidation and maturation of constitutional

democracy and to strongly repudiate even the slightest

prospect of democratic reversal in the subregion. It is

our national interest to do so.

ECOWAS has proven over and over again its

willingness and capacity to come to the aid of its

members in their hour of need. In that spirit, we will

continue to make our best efforts to ensure that peace

and stability reign in the region and to facilitate the

realization of the objectives implied in the

Community’s name. We continue, as usual, to count on

the support of the United Nations system.

Nigeria continues to make great strides in our

efforts to build a peaceful, stable and prosperous

nation, able to provide the best possible life for its

citizens and able to fulfil its international commitments

and obligations. We have made great progress in laying

a solid foundation for democracy, and we are seeking

to build on this foundation to grow an economy that

will see Nigeria take its rightful place among the

world’s economic powerhouses. However, there are

challenges. Some we can deal with by ourselves.

Others require the help, support and cooperation of our

friends and allies and of the United Nations family.

Those who have been watching events in our

country in the past few months will testify to the

progress we have made in the Niger Delta in finding

durable solutions to the political, social and

environmental problems of one of the most

strategically important regions of our country. Today,

relative peace has returned to the Niger Delta, largely

on the back of an amnesty deal which the Government

and erstwhile militants forged and are implementing

together. The return of peace to the region would

provide the platform for meeting the aspirations of the

people, as well as allowing the resumption of full

economic activity there.

Nigeria is a signatory to the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights and to the majority of

other international and regional human rights

instruments, and we continue to remain focused and

committed on the issue of human rights.

In our endeavour to overcome the constraints

brought about by the present gap between our nation’s

increasing demand for power to drive its development

and the available supply, we join others in pursuit of

reliable, cheap and environmentally friendly alternative

sources of energy. In this regard, we are gratified by

the support and assistance that we, as a non-nuclear

State, continue to receive from the International

Atomic Energy Agency in exploring alternative sources

of electricity generation, as well as in the areas of

radiation control, waste management and training. We

will continue to collaborate closely with the Agency, as

well as to rely on the assistance of our allies and

friends.

Nigeria welcomes the ongoing reform and

democratization of the United Nations system and

notes the progress made in the intergovernmental

negotiation process. We encourage all parties to

continue the negotiations with renewed vigour with a

view to achieving the desired objectives. Of particular

importance to Nigeria is the enlargement and

09-52604 44

democratization of the Security Council. It is

unacceptable that Africa, with 53 countries, is not

represented in the permanent seat category of the

Council. We call upon Member States to demonstrate

the necessary political will to bring about the long-

awaited reform, in order to make the Security Council

more legitimate, more democratic and more transparent

and inclusive.

Nigeria’s commitment to the United Nations and

the international system has been demonstrated over

the years. This commitment accords with the

provisions of our Constitution, which enjoins us, inter

alia, to promote international cooperation for the

consolidation of universal peace and to promote

respect for international law and treaty obligations. Our

international behaviour has always been guided by

those noble foreign policy objectives.

Nigeria has been the fourth-largest contributor in

the world to peacekeeping operations, and the role we

have played — and will continue to play — in

peacekeeping in the subregion, the African continent

and, with the United Nations, around the world is a

clear testimony to our unflinching commitment to

joining hands with others, especially the United

Nations, in laying solid foundations upon which human

prosperity can be built. This is why we welcome the

new strategy by the United Nations to strengthen the

partnership between troop-contributing countries and

the United Nations, especially in the provision of

adequate resources and the capacity to strengthen

regional peacekeeping initiatives.

Finally, as usual, Nigeria will continue to draw on

its vast experience and commitment in its efforts to

contribute to the realization of the objectives and

values of the United Nations. We assure all our allies

and friends that Nigeria will continue to be a

responsible global member of the United Nations,

subscribing to all the norms, conventions and values of

this human family and providing leadership, especially

on issues concerning West Africa and indeed the rest of

the world.