Nigeria, 2008

I congratulate you,

Mr. President, on your election to preside over the

General Assembly at its sixty-third session. You may

remain assured of the full support and cooperation of

the Nigerian delegation as you guide our deliberations.

May I also express appreciation to your predecessor for

the able manner in which he presided over the work of

the Assembly’s sixty-second session.

In his address to this Assembly last year (see

A/62/PV.7), the Nigerian President reaffirmed the

determination of Nigeria to remain a stable and

prosperous nation, anchored on the enduring principles

of democracy, good governance, free enterprise, the

rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights.

In pursuit of those objectives, we have raised the bar

on bold political, economic and social reforms aimed at

making our economy more investment friendly and our

democracy more inclusive. We continue to count on the

support and understanding of the international

community, especially our development partners, as we

accelerate measures to enhance the overall capacity of

the Nigerian State.

A strong, safe and prosperous Nigeria means a

dependable contributor not only to regional stability

and well-being, but to the emergent global ethics so

crucial for the survival of humanity. From the very

beginning of our nationhood, our foreign policy has

been tethered to a responsible and proactive role in the

United Nations and its commitments everywhere. Thus,

we never hesitated to respond unconditionally to

demands for sacrifices whenever and wherever duty

called, whether in the Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia or

now in Darfur, and in the next few months, in Somalia.

Nigeria is as safe as the rest of the world. That for us is

the true meaning of global solidarity and the sense of

equal partnership that informed the vision of the

founding fathers of this Organization.

It is against that background that we raise before

the Assembly the concern and plight of many

developing countries, especially in Africa, suffering

from the devastating consequences of the illicit trade in

small arms and light weapons. Most of the civil wars

and insurgencies in those countries have been carried

out with such weapons, and because of their lethality

and ready deployment, they may be described as

Africa’s own experience of weapons of mass

destruction.

We remain convinced that the best and most

effective strategy to achieve the goal of preventing,

combating and eradicating that illicit and deadly trade

is through the elaboration of a legally binding global

instrument, as well as the political will on the part of

all to stem the uncontrolled proliferation of small arms.

Therefore, urgent action is needed to criminalize oil

bunkering, the sale of oil so acquired and the use of its

proceeds to fuel new crisis situations in Africa,

especially in the Gulf of Guinea, through the

proliferation of small arms and light weapons. The

same creativity and political will that was

demonstrated in confronting blood diamonds as a

source of regional instability must be available at this

time in dealing with the blood oil that now threatens

the Gulf.

Nigeria has made enormous sacrifices on behalf

of peace in Darfur. Over the years we have maintained

peacekeeping troops in the region, first, under the

ambit of the African Union and now under the African

Union-United Nations hybrid peacekeeping force. We

call on the international community to take bold and

robust steps that would lead to the full deployment and

operationalization of that force. In the same vein, we

call on the Government of the Sudan to take steps that

will facilitate the attainment of this objective.

Midway towards the target year of 2015, it has

become evident that the lofty Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) might not be attained by many

countries. This much is clear from the outcome of the

High-level event on the MDGs that took place in the

margins of this session on 25 September 2008. Mindful

of the importance of these Goals for our development,

Nigeria is determined to do everything to ensure their

realization. In this connection, we commend the efforts

of the Secretary-General in creating the Millennium

Development Goals Africa Steering Group to map out

strategies for African countries to achieve the targets.

It is time to urge, with the directness that these

challenging times demand, evidence of a more

manifest will on the part of the international

08-53141 10

community, especially our development partners, to

really assist Africa to join the rest of the global success

story. Around this issue, the Nigerian delegation is

looking at ten such indicators.

The first is the critical need for a big

infrastructure push, especially in energy and

transportation, without which nothing else is possible

on the continent. Secondly, the food crisis in Africa

must be addressed by redressing the trilogy of fertilizer

imbalance between Africa and other regions of the

world, removing food subsides in the developed

economies, and transferring relevant technology for

food production and food processing. Thirdly, the Doha

Round of trade negotiations must be revived. Fourthly,

massive investment in information technology and

higher education is needed to spur development of

Africa. Fifthly, strategies must be devised with African

Governments on how to transform the continent’s

current brain drain into brain gain. Sixthly, a global

commitment to stem the flow of small arms and light

weapons into Africa is needed. Seventh, national

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative projects

in Africa must be encouraged and supported. Eighth,

there should be Security Council reforms that accord

Africa permanent membership in the Council. That

would ensure African ownership of its responses, since

over 60 per cent of issues addressed by the Council are

African. Ninth, attention should be paid to

development of clean energy technology and

alternative sources of energy to avert the looming

disaster of climate change for a continent that is

already very vulnerable. Tenth, we need a breakthrough

in the malaria vaccine, together with greater sustained

support for the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic,

two major impediments to reaching our potential in

Africa.

The recent steep rise in global food prices has

presented us with a monumental challenge and the

global embarrassment of compounds of misery sharing

increasingly crowded space with compounds of

affluence in our global village. It is unacceptable that,

despite technological advancements and resources

unimaginable two decades ago, children still die of

hunger and malnutrition. How can one say that the

genius that permits us to make living in outer space

feasible looks the other way when over 1 billion people

in the world are going to bed hungry and more than

6 million children are dying each year of hunger and

malnutrition? This problem deserves the full attention

of this Assembly. The right to food for all must be

pursued with renewed vigour.

Nigeria condemns terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations. We reaffirm our support for the

counter-terrorism measures of the Security Council and

the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

We have also been implementing the four pillars of the

Global Strategy through measures that have proven

effective in combating terrorism. For us, the fight

against terrorism is strongly anchored in the rule of law

and respect for human rights. As we combat this

scourge, it is important that, fundamental freedoms and

human rights are neither compromised nor abused.

The United Nations must not relent in its pursuit

of the goal of a world in which all nations and peoples

live in freedom and dignity and in which all political,

economic, social, cultural and human rights are fully

guaranteed. Our active participation in the activities of

the Human Rights Council and the African

Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is

evidence of that commitment.

In our subregion, we are concerned, that drug

cartels, often based outside the region, are now

targeting West Africa as a transit route for the

movement of illicit drugs to other regions. The

activities of those drug cartels constitute a serious

impediment to development in the subregion. The

world must pay adequate attention to this growing

problem.

Let me reiterate Nigeria’s unwavering support for

the United Nations and its objectives and purposes. We

are convinced that the Organization remains the most

viable platform for consultations, consensus-building

and action on the global challenges that we presently

face. Mankind has not developed any better substitute.

Nigeria believes in the pacific settlement of

disputes and peaceful coexistence with our neighbours.

We showed that when, on 14 August 2008, Nigeria, in

full compliance with the ruling of the International

Court of Justice, lowered its flag for the last time by

withdrawing from the Bakassi Peninsula. For that

singular act of statesmanship, Nigeria has justifiably

received the commendation of the international

community. Our action accords with our long-standing

tradition as a nation that honours its commitments. We

believe that if we all, in concert, stand up for these

shared values and purposes, our Organization and our

world will be a much better place.

11 08-53141

This can, and should be a General Assembly like

no other, for the crises that face us now have few

precedents in scope and complexity. What is required

is a new posture to move from data to determination,

from rhetoric to results and from words to wisdom. Our

many noble visions must begin to somehow find more

vigorous forms of expression. A world so greatly

challenged must also be a world so much more capable

of imagination and boldness. The platform for such

boldness and such imagination is here, in this

venerable institution founded 63 years ago on the

pillars of peace, justice and freedom for all.

Let us never forget the timeless words of the

internationalist and Nobel Laureate who warned that to

deal with the problems that we have created, we need

to move unto a higher order of thinking than the one

with which we created them. The time to do so is now,

for the clock of humanity is ticking very fast. Our

existential challenge did not end with the cold war;

indeed, it has just started.