This is the full text of President Muhammadu Buhari's address to the
72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, as
posted by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President, Femi
Adesina.
Statement Delivered By His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari,
President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria at the General Debate of
the 72nd Session of United Nations General Assembly, in New York, on
Tuesday, 19 September 2017.’
Mr. President,
Fellow Heads of State and Government,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. On behalf of my country, Nigeria, I congratulate you Mr.
President on your election and Mr. Gutteres on his first General
Assembly outing as our Secretary-General. I assure you both of my
country’s solidarity and cooperation. You will indeed need the
cooperation of all member States as we are meeting during
extra-ordinarily troubled and dangerous times. Let me also thank former
Secretary-General Mr. Ban ki Moon for his service to the United Nations
and wish him peaceful retirement.
2. The previous year has witnessed many far-reaching developments.
Some of the most significant events include the Iran Nuclear Deal, the
Paris Climate Change Agreement and, of grave concern, the North Korean
nuclear crisis.
3. I must also commend the UN’s role in helping to settle thousands
of innocent civilians caught in the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and
Afghanistan. In particular, we must collectively thank the Government of
the Federal Republic of Germany under the commendable leadership of
Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Governments of Italy, Greece and Turkey
for assisting hundreds of thousands of refugees.
4. In an exemplary show of solidarity, the international community
came together within my own region to assist the countries and
communities in the Sahel and the Lake Chad regions to contain the
threats posed by Al Qaida and Boko Haram.
5. We thank the Security Council for visiting the countries of the
Lake Chad Basin to assess the security situation and humanitarian needs,
and for pledging assistance to rebuild lives and livelihoods. Indeed,
in Nigeria we are providing relief and humanitarian assistance to
millions in camps and those afflicted by terrorism, drought, floods and
other natural disasters.
6. In the last year, the international community came together to
focus on the need for gender equality, youth empowerment, social
inclusion, and the promotion of education, creativity and innovation.
The frontiers of good governance, democracy including holding free and
fair elections, and enthronement of the rule of law are expanding
everywhere, especially in Africa.
7. Our faith in democracy remains firm and unshaken. Our regional
organisation ECOWAS came together to uphold democratic principles in The
Gambia – as we had done previously in Cote D’Ivoire.
8. Through our individual national efforts, state institutions are
being strengthened to promote accountability, and to combat corruption
and asset recovery. These can only be achieved through the international
community cooperating and providing critical assistance and material
support. We shall also cooperate in addressing the growing transnational
crimes such as forced labour, modern day slavery, human trafficking and
cybercrime.
Mr. President,
9. These cooperative efforts should be sustained. We must
collectively devise strategies and mobilise the required responses to
stop fleeing ISIS fighters from mutating and infiltrating into the Sahel
and the Lake Chad Basin, where there are insufficient resources and
response capacity is weak.
10. This will require strong UN cooperation with regional
organisations, such as the African Union, in conflict prevention and
management. The UN should continue to take primary leadership of the
maintenance of international peace and security by providing, in a
predictable and sustainable manner, adequate funding and other enablers
to regional initiatives and peacekeeping operations authorized by the
Security Council.
11. New conflicts should not make us lose focus on ongoing
unresolved old conflicts. For example, several UN Security Council
Resolutions from 1967 on the Middle East crisis remain unimplemented.
Meanwhile, the suffering of the Palestinian people and the blockade of
Gaza continue.
12. Additionally, we are now confronted by the desperate human
rights and humanitarian situations in Yemen and most tragically in the
Rakhine State of Myanmar. The Myanmar crisis is very reminiscent of what
happened in Bosnia in 1995 and in Rwanda in 1994.
13. The international community cannot remain silent and not
condemn the horrendous suffering caused by what, from all indications is
a state-backed programme of brutal depopulation of the Rohingya
inhabited areas in Myanmar on the bases of ethnicity and religion. We
fully endorse the call by the Secretary-General on the Government of
Myanmar to order a halt to the ongoing ethnic cleansing and ensure the
safe return of the displaced Rohingya to their homes in safety and
dignity.
14. In all these crises, the primary victims are the people, the
most vulnerable being women and children. That is why the theme of this
session: Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and Decent Life for All
on a Sustainable Planet” is most apposite.
15. While the international community grapples to resolve these
conflicts, we must be mindful and focus on the widening inequalities
within societies, and the gap between the rich and the poor nations.
These inequalities and gaps are part of the underlining root causes of
competition for resources, frustration and anger leading to spiralling
instability.
16. The most pressing threat to international peace and security
today is the accelerated nuclear weapons development programme by North
Korea. Since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, we have never come so
close to the threat of nuclear war as we have now.
17. All necessary pressure and diplomatic efforts must be brought
to bear on North Korea to accept peaceful resolution of the crisis. As
Hiroshima and Nagasaki painfully remind us, if we fail, the catastrophic
and devastating human loss and environmental degradation cannot be
imagined.
18. Nigeria proposes a strong UN delegation to urgently engage the
North Korean Leader. The delegation, led by the Security Council, should
include members from all the regions.
19. The crisis in the Korean peninsula underscores the urgency for
all member states, guided by the spirit of enthroning a safer and more
peaceful world, to ratify without delay the Treaty prohibiting nuclear
weapons, which will be open for signature here tomorrow.
20. I end my remarks by reiterating Nigeria’s abiding commitment to
the foundational principles and goals of the United Nations. Since our
admission as a member state in 1960, we have always participated in all
efforts to bring about global peace, security and development. Nigeria
will continue to support the UN in all its efforts, including the
attainment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
I thank you.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
