Nigeria, 1995

I am delighted to

address the General Assembly in the year of its fiftieth

anniversary. On behalf of the Nigerian delegation, I

convey warm congratulations to the President on his

election to preside over the General Assembly at its

fiftieth session. We are confident that in carrying out his

duties he will bring his wisdom, competence and

diplomatic skills to bear on the work of the Assembly.

We congratulate his friendly country, Portugal, and

reaffirm the warmth of the bilateral relations between our

two countries.

Let me also convey our sincere thanks to his

distinguished predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Amara

Essy of Côte d’Ivoire, for the outstanding manner in

which he conducted the affairs of the General Assembly

at its forty-ninth session. I also wish to express my

delegation’s appreciation to the Secretary-General for the

courageous manner in which he is responding to the

challenges of his office.

The uniqueness of the current session is not lost on

my delegation. It is not only a solemn occasion to reflect

on the achievements and difficulties of our Organization

during the past 50 years, but also a golden opportunity to

chart a new way forward. We therefore hope that the

work of this and future sessions of the General Assembly

will continue to be inspired by the purposes and

principles of the United Nations Charter.

The establishment of the United Nations in the

aftermath of the Second World War marked a turning

point in the history of international relations. As an

intergovernmental Organization whose principal tasks

include the maintenance of international peace and

security, the promotion of international cooperation for

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development and the progressive development and

codification of international law and respect for human

rights, the United Nations best epitomizes the will of the

peoples of the world to live together.

We in Africa attach great importance to this fiftieth

anniversary, as in 1945 the vast majority of our countries

were not independent and therefore could not participate in

the processes leading to the signing of the United Nations

Charter in San Francisco. It is gratifying, however, that

from being represented by only four countries on that

occasion, Africa has since grown to be the largest regional

group within the Organization. This is in accordance with

the universalist aspirations of the United Nations.

The phenomenal growth in membership evokes happy

memories of the transition of a large number of Member

States, particularly from Africa and Asia, from colonial

dependencies to nationhood. For many years the United

Nations was the catalyst in this process. Our continental

organization, the Organization of African Unity (OAU),

from its inception in 1963, similarly embraced this

objective as a primary preoccupation. It was my country’s

privilege to be associated at the regional and global levels

with the struggle against apartheid and for freedom and

self-determination on the continent.

The United Nations is perhaps best known for its

endeavours in the maintenance of international peace and

security. This remains a major preoccupation, as events

since the end of the Cold War have demonstrated that civil

conflicts and political instability in many countries,

particularly in the developing world, have become endemic,

with grave consequences for international peace and

security. These conflicts, which have their origins in,

among other things, new nationalisms, ethnic differences

and religious bigotry, constitute a test of the international

community’s will to meet the new challenges and provide

appropriate solutions.

On this occasion, therefore, it is the hope of the

Nigerian delegation that the Assembly will make sustained

efforts to take decisions that will significantly enhance the

prospects of global peace and security. We expect that

further thought will be given to redefining the role of the

United Nations and its perspectives on preventive

diplomacy, peacemaking, peace-keeping and peace-building

as continuing imperatives in crisis management and conflict

resolution.

Given that the maintenance of international peace and

security is a shared responsibility, the United Nations

should undertake to realign and strengthen its cooperation

with regional organizations and arrangements. This is not

to underestimate the need for Member States to make

serious efforts to prevent war and civil conflict through

confidence-building measures and the formulation and

implementation of appropriate domestic policies. In this

regard, we cannot but reaffirm the continuing validity of

the peaceful resolution of disputes through mediation,

conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement and respect for

applicable international laws.

We deplore the growing arms race and the

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, on which

vast resources are now being wasted. The nuclear genie

has left the bottle and cannot now be led back into it; the

trauma of Hiroshima and Nagasaki persists and continues

to haunt the international conscience. Let us therefore

resolve that such a tragedy will never happen again. The

time for disarmament under effective international control

is now.

Although progress towards the achievement of

general and complete disarmament has been slow, we

would like to commend the United Nations for its role in

this sphere. Nigeria regards the agreements banning

biological and chemical weapons as landmark

arrangements. We must remain committed to the ultimate

goal of the total elimination of all weapons of mass

destruction.

On its twenty-fifth anniversary, in May of this year,

the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

(NPT) was extended indefinitely. Developments since

then have seriously undermined the confidence we have

all reposed in the Treaty and its regime, and have

regrettably cast major doubt on the commitment of

Member States, particularly the nuclear Member States,

to disarmament. In our view, efforts to achieve this must

remain fundamental and include the conclusion of a

comprehensive nuclear- test-ban treaty by 1996, the cut-

off in the production of fissionable materials for weapons

purposes, and the granting of security assurances by the

nuclear-weapon States to non-nuclear-weapon States in a

legally binding instrument.

In our continuing efforts to ensure a peaceful and

secure environment for the development of the African

continent, Nigeria is delighted to welcome the successful

completion of the negotiations on the Treaty of an

African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, which was endorsed

by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Council of

Ministers in June 1995. By this action, African leaders

8

have given concrete expression to their collective

commitment to make the continent a nuclear-weapon-free

zone. It is our expectation that during this session the

international community will respect this initiative through

the endorsement of the Treaty. We hope that the nuclear-

weapon States will ratify the protocols to be annexed to the

Treaty.

The framers of the Charter of the United Nations did,

in fact, recognize that peace and development go together.

Among the high purposes of our Organization is the

promise of economic and social achievement by all peoples.

To this end, a good deal of effort has been made by the

United Nations and its agencies to support the

implementation of programmes of action initiated by

developing countries at national, subregional and regional

levels. We commend these agencies for their efforts in

tackling the problems of social and economic development.

In discussing the general issue of development, we

recognize the primacy of the United Nations in promoting

international cooperation for development. It is in this

connection that we have welcomed the contribution of the

Secretary-General in his Agenda for Development. For us

in Africa, development is a question of survival. We place

a particular premium on it as we confront the challenges of

poverty and underdevelopment.

While the unsatisfactory economic situation of Africa

has been the subject of many international conferences, the

resulting programmes of action have remained largely

unimplemented. Such programmes include the United

Nations Programme of Action for African Economic

Recovery and Development 1986-1990 and the United

Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the

1990s, adopted in 1991. The failure to implement these

programmes has been due primarily to the lack of will and

acceptance of a concept of economic interdependence by

our development partners. Yet, it remains important that

development should be seen as an integral and indivisible

whole, an objective to be pursued collectively in the global

economy.

The economic crises confronting the developing

countries are multifaceted. I would, however, like to stress

the pre-eminent need for the international community to

resolve the external-debt crisis, which is a key impediment

to growth and development in our respective countries.

Most African countries devote a large proportion of their

foreign exchange earnings to debt-servicing. It has,

therefore, been difficult for these countries to also pursue

sustained economic development objectives. It is clear that

Nigeria — as, indeed, most other countries of our

continent — faces limited possibilities for the

implementation of their economic reform programmes

without urgent and adequate debt-relief measures.

We believe that development cooperation should

engender genuine interdependence, mutual interest and

benefits in the context of global partnership. In the

expectation that the developed countries will support and

indeed assist the developing countries in their

development efforts, we call for fuller cooperation

between the two sides. The initiative to hold the Asia-

Africa Forum in Bandung, Indonesia, in December 1994,

as a follow-up to the Tokyo International Conference for

the Development of Africa, was bold and imaginative.

The conclusions and recommendations of these initiatives,

which are also critical, need to be faithfully implemented.

The integrated approach to development being

pursued by the United Nations is right and deserves to be

commended. In this regard, we welcome the outcome of

the recently concluded World Summit for Social

Development and Fourth World Conference on Women.

These conferences have helped to promote women in

development and to enhance their role in public affairs.

We acknowledge the interdependence of societies as

underscored by these conferences, and the fact that all

cultures have a contribution to make at the crossroads of

civilization and development.

While recognizing the achievements of the United

Nations, it is fit and proper, at this point, to identify also

those areas in which the Organization has not fully

realized its objectives.

On peace and security, it should be acknowledged

that the United Nations has a commendable record of

success. Since its founding, it is significant that there has

been no global war and that the end of the cold war has

enhanced the prospects for cooperation and the lessening

of tension. However, new conflicts have emerged which

have defied solution by the United Nations. It is evident

that the challenges of peacemaking, peace-keeping and

peace-building require new perspectives and commitments

from Member States. Moreover, while seeking to provide

solutions to these conflicts, the United Nations must

accept that it has a limit to its capacity. It should,

therefore, not micromanage the internal political

arrangements of countries in conflict. It is equally

important that the United Nations be seen to be

transparent and even-handed in crisis management in all

regions. Furthermore, the United Nations should do more

9

to cultivate and cooperate with regional organizations and

arrangements in conflict resolution.

On decolonization, the balance sheet of the United

Nations performance is largely positive. However, the

legacies of colonialism and the challenges of nation-

building have created difficulties for new States. These

difficulties have resulted in the inability of many of the new

States of the developing world to conduct their domestic

and external relations in a manner consistent with the

provisions of the Charter. The experience of a number of

these States indicates that powerful members of the

international community continue to insist on their models

as standards for universal behaviour and application. The

political and economic lives of the new States are further

circumscribed by international financial institutions

dominated by the economically strong. These institutions,

which are as old as our Organization, have yet to adapt to

the new economic realities and needs of the new States

they seek to serve.

With regard to development, the objectives of the

Charter have remained largely unfulfilled in view of the

growing economic disparities between a minority of

developed countries and the vast majority of countries

which are classified as developing. Regrettably, dialogue

between the North and the South, which is vital to

effectively address this imbalance, has reached a deadlock.

This dialogue needs to be relaunched in order to achieve a

just and equitable world order for sustainable development.

Since joining the United Nations 35 years ago, Nigeria

has played its part in upholding the purposes and principles

set forth in the United Nations Charter. It has also pursued

its objectives with dedication and commitment. From

decolonization to peace-keeping, we have spared neither

efforts nor resources in fulfilling our obligations under the

Charter. Our record in peace-keeping speaks for itself.

Within the ambit of South-South cooperation, Nigeria

has extended assistance to other developing countries,

particularly in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. In our

subregion, we are in active partnership with the countries

of the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS) to accelerate development through cooperation.

It is our hope that ECOWAS will become an essential

component for continental integration as envisaged under

the Abuja Treaty on the African Economic Community.

To avoid any doubt, I wish to state that we in Africa

have long accepted that the primary responsibility for the

development of our continent rests squarely on our

shoulders. But the reality of our experience is that we

have had to fight on the two fronts of political and

economic reforms at the same time. Few regions of the

world have borne such excruciating burdens in their

development process. This calls for understanding and

encouragement rather than indifference and benign

neglect. Consequently, in addition to regional integration

efforts, we in Nigeria have undertaken bold economic and

political reforms. On the economic front, the current

Administration in Nigeria has deregulated the economy

and created new incentives for domestic and foreign

investments.

On the political plane, Nigeria has embarked on

courageous reforms. In spite of unforeseen difficulties and

the complexities of the Nigerian situation, we have

continued to make steady progress in our determined

efforts to establish a veritable and enduring democratic

polity. Indeed, only three days ago my Head of State,

General Sani Abacha, announced a comprehensive

programme of transition to democratic rule and the final

disengagement of the military from power. This

programme was carefully drawn up taking into account

the objective realities of our national situation to ensure

not only an orderly transition, but also the

institutionalization of durable democratic structures of

governance at all levels.

While we recognize and appreciate the

understandable concerns of our foreign friends and the

international community at large, we hope that due

support will be given to our endeavour in the full

realization that a democratic Nigeria, the most populous

black nation on Earth, is an asset to itself and has much

to offer the international community.

In order that the United Nations might be better

equipped to discharge its responsibility as a forum for

harmonizing the actions of nations, it is essential that the

ongoing process of revitalization and institutional reforms

be intensified. This is necessary if the United Nations is

to assert its central role in the establishment of a new

world order. It is also vital if the United Nations is to

truly reflect the equity and geographical balance that are

critical for its efficiency and authority.

Nigeria, therefore, reaffirms its support for the

expansion of the Security Council both in its permanent

and in its non-permanent membership and, in this

connection, my delegation renews the offer made by our

country to serve the international community as a

permanent member in the expanded Security Council.

10

As we look to the future, it is obvious that the

effectiveness of the United Nations will depend on the

collective will and support of its entire membership. There

are two levels of responsibility in ensuring a strong and

vibrant United Nations. The first is what the United Nations

itself must do; the second, and more important, is what we

the Member States accept to do to enable the Organization

to respond effectively to our collective quest for peace,

freedom, justice and development. In pursuit of these

objectives, Nigeria is determined to continue making its

contributions.