The election, with a total of 186 out of a possible 193 votes, is the fourth time since independence in 1960 that Nigeria would be elected to the non-permanent seat of this important council. Although this honour came at a time that Nigeria is, itself, battling onerous security challenges, it unequivocally signifies approval and encouragement for the country’s active participation in global efforts to improve safety and security in the world.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who had earlier made a strong case for the country’s election to a non-permanent seat on the council while addressing world leaders at the opening of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, has expectedly expressed delight at the election. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) had fully endorsed Nigeria’s bid for the seat.
Jonathan, at the opening session had also called for the democratization of the Security Council and reformation of the UN, stressing that democratization should not be for the member-countries alone. He said this was necessary for the promotion of equity and a sense of inclusiveness and balance in the world.
Nigeria had, however, much earlier demanded a non-veto permanent seat on the council, giving its huge population, illustrious records in international peacekeeping and the need for equity in the UN system, as reasons. We should continue to demand an expansion of the permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council to include more deserving countries, even though Nigeria’s serious security and other socio-political challenges have significantly diminished its strong leadership role in Africa, and the way it is perceived by other countries. It is necessary that we improve our security and other socio-political profile at home to have a strong voice in global security matters.
Nevertheless, we congratulate Nigerians on the nation’s election to the non-permanent, two-year seat. The president and our foreign policy makers and executors deserve commendation on this achievement.
It is, undoubtedly, an acceptance of Nigeria’s important contributions to global peace and security efforts, even though we have mostly failed to leverage on the gains of these contributions. The huge human and material sacrifices that we have made in these peacekeeping efforts have hardly translated to the barest of goodwill, especially in Africa, where our people are often targeted for xenophobic attacks, even when we relate well at the leadership level.
The challenge for President Jonathan, under whose leadership Nigeria is winning this seat for the second time, (having won it in 2010-2011 and now 2014-2015), is to mandate our foreign policy experts to design strategies to maximize the gains of our contributions to global peacekeeping.
Beyond that, we must concentrate more on achieving peace and security in our own country. It is necessary to tackle our security challenges, especially the Boko Haram insurgency, to justify our involvement in global security efforts. We must avoid the derogatory tag of a UN Security Council member that cannot secure itself. Let us do all that is necessary to put the problem of terrorism behind us. The emergency rule that was declared in three states in the North-east geo-political zone of the country some months ago should be made to work.
The UN Security Council seat is a vote of confidence. The government should see it as a testament to our past security efforts and our ability to overcome our present problems. We should not just be excited about the election. It should ginger us to work harder to improve security and governance in general.
It is a challenge to Nigeria to do more on security at home and abroad. We must not disappoint the world and ourselves in this regard.
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