| Nigeria And The Security Council Question |
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| Written by Sonala Olumhense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, 04 May 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sunday, May 04, 2008 Nigeria And The Security Council Question Let me begin by celebrating the arrival in New York, as Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, of Professor Joy Ogwu. Under Olusegun Obasanjo, she served briefly as Foreign Minister. Far too often, Nigeria has been represented in New York by profit-hunting contractors, businessmen and political party operatives. I do not believe you can love your country abroad if you never loved her at home, and some of these men were prime examples. In Mrs. Ogwu, Nigeria has someone who understands foreign policy, and the meaning of representing a nation. In New York, when she calls herself a diplomat, nobody will be sniggering, or winking knowingly. On a related matter, I keep hearing people in the byways of power in Nigeria saying Nigeria will become a member of a restructured United Nations Security Council, a subject that Mrs. Ogwu now inherits. They mean that Nigeria will become one of two African nations with a permanent seat. They lie. It is certainly not the first time a Nigerian has promised Nigerians drinking water or electricity or freedom from armed robbery. They tell us we will win 10 gold medals at the Olympics. They promise roads from here to there. They tell us they are fighting corruption. They tell us they will get rid of traffic jams. It is some of these creatures that are currently involved in the Security Council propaganda. It would be nice to question them about how they intend to smuggle Nigeria into the Council. What I have heard is the usual "game plan": we tell the world how "important" Nigeria is. We throw random numbers around, such as our size and population. That gives us what may be called our post-civil war weight, which we proceed to throw around. In an ideal situation, Nigeria would walk into a new Security Council. Other African nations would contest for the other seat because the Nigerian seat would clearly be out of the reach of everyone else. Nation after nation would speak glowingly of Nigeria's contribution to peace and democracy on the continent, and we would not have to do it ourselves. Nation after nation would cite our exemplary contribution to the resolution of conflicts and the rebuilding of peace, of communities and of nations. Nations would speak not of how big Nigeria is, but of how she has conferred dignity and hope on every black man around the world. In an ideal situation, other African nations would speak with reverence of Nigerian statesmen. They would point to our men of character and achievement, and invite them to speak at major events. They would be offering ideas, plans and concepts with continental validity. National leaders would look at Nigeria itself and speak of its ground-breaking achievements and examples. In an ideal world. To be sure, I think of Nigeria as something special. As my fatherland, it is. But other people have their fatherlands as well, and most of the time, they are considerably smaller than Nigeria. But they do so much more with what they have that it looks as though Nigeria were standing still. The reality is that within Africa, we have usually had our way because of our size and history. Up until the civil war, Africans and the rest of the world were impressed by the size and potential of Nigeria. This was significant, particularly because the colonial experience had given our leaders a broad vision of the challenge before Africa. We wanted to see African rid of colonialism. This was why the apartheid regime in South Africa presented such a challenge, one that we were happy to accept and to champion. It was the classic experience of a people uniting against a foreign enemy or aggressor, and we were happy to celebrate history with South Africa when apartheid met its ignominious end. In the interim, we had fought, and survived a civil war of our own. And we began to mine a fortune from our oilfields. Each of those factors presented Nigeria with the opportunity to redefine itself, and to lead at least a new Africa. What have we done instead? Hundreds of billions of US dollars later, few Nigerians can claim to enjoy drinking water, let alone electricity. Nigerian leaders steal and cheat in broad daylight even as they make interminable speeches extolling the highest of human and political virtues. It is a shame called hypocrisy. We talk cheaply about wanting to be among the best in the world but refuse to invest in it. While Nigeria talks about Vision 2020, for instance, or about being among the world's Top-20 economies by 2020, we are rated among the 20 least livable nations on earth by the UN. In fact, the annual Human Development Index of the United Nations consistently lists us in the bottom 20 nations on earth. While we want to become a member of the Security Council, what are the international causes with which we are identified? What is our contribution to peace in Kenya or Zimbabwe? Oh yes, we are a United Nations troop contributor. But all it means is that Nigerian leaders are willing to pledge other people's children to danger. It is really no proof of anything. Nigerian leaders who send out our soldiers to keep the peace or to die trying never have any children in the army, or permit them to be put in such danger. This is why it is so easy for Nigerian leaders to send our troops out disgracefully ill-equipped and unpaid. Speaking of other people's children, look at how Nigeria's expertise is scattered around the world, with interest to everyone else but Nigeria. We have some of the best doctors, everyone knows, but we have no hospitals. We cannot have hospitals because we do not believe in institutions. Are we surprised that Nigerian leaders still seek medical treatment abroad? So we want to be in the Security Council? What is the project plan? After all, many years ago, such nations as Japan and Italy and South Africa and Germany began to work on schemes to get them there. Nigeria did not do anything. I am not saying that that is strange. After all, we have not given our children water to drink, either.
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Posted by Robot| 04.05.2008 03:40