Speech By His Excellency President Olusegun Obasanjo, At the 57th United Nations General Assembly

Mr. President,

On behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria, I
join other delegations to congratulate you on your
election as the President of the 57th Session of the
United Nations General Assembly. I have no doubt that
under your able leadership, the work of the 57th
Session would be guided to a successful conclusion.
Let me also acknowledge the work done by your
predecessor who guided the affairs of the 56th Session
with great skill and commitment.

The tireless exertions of the Secretary-General, Mr.
Kofi Annan, on behalf of our Organization, must not go
unnoticed. He deserves our fulsome appreciation.

I welcome the newest member of our organization,
Switzerland. I have no doubt that she will bring
unique perspectives to the work of the United Nations,
which would enhance the attainment of its objectives.

Mr. President, it is regrettable that international
terrorism continues to pose threat to international
peace and security. There is need for reviewed and
concerted efforts on our part to confront the menace
until the threat is halted. The various international
instruments aimed at combating terrorism deserve our
full support.

Nigeria remains deeply committed to the fight against
terrorism. We are committed to the early elaboration
of a comprehensive Convention on international
terrorism.

Mr. President, despite the best intentions and efforts
of the international community, a scourge of a
different nature continues to threaten many parts of
the world. I refer here to the numerous theaters of
conflict around the world. People continue to expend
valuable energies and resources in fighting each
other, often for causes that are unproductive. The
international community has a responsibility, not only
to design appropriate strategies for a measured and
early response to douse these conflicts, but also to
find ways and means of addressing their root causes,
and managing them to a peaceful conclusion. It is only
then that true peace and stability will reign in the
world.

While it is true that many of these conflicts have
their root causes in poverty, ignorance, real and
perceived injustice and absence of the basic freedoms,
it is equally evident that they are often exacerbated,
especially in the case of African conflicts, by the
influx of small arms into the continent. The illicit
trade in small arms and light weapons has continued
unabated, with disastrous consequences for many
developing countries. We are deeply concerned that
manufacturer countries are not doing enough to limit
the proliferation of these weapons through appropriate
safeguards. We therefore call on the international
community to consider elaborating a legally binding
international instrument to control the supply of
these weapons to non-state actors.

The United Nations peacekeeping role is an invaluable
one in the global effort to help contain and resolve
conflicts around the world. It deserves to be
sustained and strengthened. Nigeria is proud to be an
active participant in this peacekeeping and
peacemaking effort. We remain committed to this
responsibility in the conviction that we are our
brother's keeper, and in the knowledge that there can
be no development without peace and stability.

Mr. President, the situation in the Middle East
continues to pose a serious threat to international
peace and security. We reaffirm our commitment to the
right of the Palestinian people to their own
independence, as well as the right of the State of
Israel to exist with safe and secure international
borders, consistent with Security Council Resolutions
242 and 338. We therefore welcome the vision and
engagement of the Quartet as well as other co-sponsors
of the Middle East peace process. I urge the parties
in the Middle East conflict to co-operate with the
international community and give the on going peace
process a chance. This becomes imperative because we
cannot afford a situation of continued protracted
conflict in the sub-region.

Mr. President, Nigeria notes with concern the threat,
which the situation in Iraq poses to international
peace and security. We hold the view that any further
escalation of tension would lead to very serious
consequences. Nigeria therefore urges the parties
concerned to exercise caution and restraint and that
the matter should be resolved in accordance with the
provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

Mr. President, there is no shortage of international
goodwill and commitment to development. Various
declarations and programs eloquently address the need
for rapid, durable and Hare -4sustainable development,
as well as to the desire for the equitable
distribution of the world's wealth. In spite of this
goodwill and good intention on the part of the
international community, more than half of humanity
lives in abject poverty and ignorance. For many
countries in Africa, hunger and disease remain
pervasive and deep-rooted. Human development indices
for some of the poorest countries are, indeed,
unflattering for a world that is so rich, but with
resources so unevenly distributed.

Mr. President, it is our conviction that urgent,
concrete action is required, if the lofty goals we
have set for ourselves in the Millennium Declaration,
to make the world a better place, are to be realized.
Many developing countries require assistance from the
international community in the form of increased ODA
and FDI flows and efforts to alleviate their
excruciating debt burden and enable them to develop
their human and material resource base.

Mr. President, Africa remains committed to the
attainment of the goals in the Millennium Declaration.
In this regard, I am pleased to state that Africa is
seeking to lift itself by its own bootstrap, through
the New Partnership for African Development programs,
NEPAD. As you are aware, NEPAD is designed to address,
in a sustained and coordinated way, many of the
developmental problems associated with Africa's under-
development. We are encouraged by the support that
NEPAD has so far received from the international
community. The latest evidence of this support is the
outcome of the recent meeting of the G8 in Kananaskis,
Canada, towards the implementation of the Action Plan.
It is hoped that the UN High level Segment on NEPAD
would record greater successes in the much-expected
endorsement of this initiative by the international
community.

Mr. President, this and other programs designed to
improve the living conditions of the majority of
humanity may not yield the desired results if one of
the greatest dangers facing humanity today is not
addressed with the commitment and urgency it deserves.
I speak here of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that continues
to bring havoc, misery and hopelessness on humanity,
especially in Africa where the pandemic is threatening
to wipe entire generations. For example, it is
estimated that out of the thirty-six million people
living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, seventy-five percent
of them are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The consequent toll
on the human and material resources of one of the most
impoverished regions of the world cannot be over-
emphasized. Not only is the productive Hays -
Population of Africa being systematically decimated by
HIV/AIDS, but also that the efforts to combat this and
other diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and other
infectious diseases are diverting scarce resources
away from development programs and projects. Massive
assistance is therefore required from the
international community to complement the efforts of
individual countries.

Mr. President, Nigeria will spare no effort to combat
these scourges. While we are fully aware of the
insidious nature of all of these pestilences, the
spread of HIV/AIDS constitutes by far our source of
greatest concern. It is for this reason that Nigeria
is active in contribution to and in management of the
Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS.

We have also established the National Agency for the
prevention and control of HIV/AIDS to coordinate
government's multi-sectoral approach to the
prevention, control and management of the pandemic.
Mr. President, we pledge to continue to do our best in
this human struggle against such a powerful,
destructive force especially in generating awareness
in the country on its prevention and spread. We
continue, however, to count on the international
community to find cures for these diseases, as well as
assistance to many of our countries in these efforts.
The leadership of the United Nations is critical to
the success of these efforts.

Mr. President, I wish to once again draw attention to
the pernicious issue of corruption and its
manifestation at the international level. We have
always maintained that it takes two to tango, and that
the instances of corruption in developing countries
have often supported by encouragement and inducements
from the industrialized countries. Thus we are
strongly advocating that efforts to establish a
convention against corruption needs to be expedited so
that we can have global action corruption.

Mr. President, there is no doubt that the United
Nations has served humanity well. It has come a long
way since its humble beginnings in 1945. It remains
the only organization to which all nations, in varying
degrees and ways, are associated and committed.
Humanity is the better for the existence of the United
Nations; the organization provides the basis for our
collective security, international cooperation and
solidarity essential for human coexistence. We must
therefore continue to fine-tune its implementations to
make it more responsive to the needs of the times and
prepare it for the challenges of the future, some of
which could not have been envisaged by thefounding
members.

I am pleased to note that there is general agreement
amongst us on the need to reform the organization to
make it more democratic in structure, efficient in
management and manageable in size. Nigeria is a major
proponent of the envisaged reforms, especially that of
the structure and working methods of the Security
Council. Nigeria envisages a new security council in
which it will play the role destined by its geo-
political circumstances and the challenges of the 21st
century. In this regard, we are willing to contribute
to efforts and stand ready to support others of like
mind and circumstance in this endeavor.

I thank you all.