President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, September 28,
addressed the international community at the 70th Session of
the United Nation Nations General Assembly in New York,
USA.
In his 15-minute speech the Nigerian leader outlined the
major objectives set by his administration so far. Buhari
spoke about Boko Haram insurgency which he insisted has
nothing to do with Islam; he noted that bringing peace to
Nigerians was number one goal for the new government adding
the joint task force had already recorded a series of
successful operations in the northeast.
The politician also reiterated his government’s commitment to
tackling the problems “inherited” from the previous
administration and referred to corruption as one of the major
challenges of the 21st century.
The number one politician of Nigeria pledged to confront the
evils of public funds looting and illicit financial outflows.
Buhari urged the global community to “redouble efforts
towards strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe
havens for proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of
stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin.”
See the speech in full below:
“I would like, Mr. President, on behalf of the Government
and people of Nigeria, to congratulate you and your country on
your election to preside over the 70th session of the U.N.
General Assembly.
“May I also express appreciation to your predecessor, Mr.
Sam Kahamba Kutesa and the Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-
moon both of whom worked tirelessly to ensure proper
articulation of the post-2015 Development Agenda and to
maintain the focus and commitment to the ideals of the
United Nations. I thank Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his recent visit
to Nigeria when we held very useful discussions.
“Mr. President,
“Fifty-five (55) years ago almost to the day, my great
predecessor, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa, stood on this forum to declare Nigeria’s
desire to develop and maintain friendly relations with all
countries. He also assured the world of our country’s
commitment to uphold the principles upon which the United
Nations was founded.
“Mr. President, my country, Nigeria, has lived by this
conviction, even when judgement went against us in territorial
disputes with our neighbours. We respected those judgements
and abided by them as a mark of respect for the rule of law
and the charter of this organization. Nigeria’s record in the
U.N. peacekeeping is second to none. I myself as a young
officer in the Nigerian Army did tours of duty in Congo and
the Lebanon.
“Nigeria has contributed to U.N. peacekeeping efforts in
Ethiopia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Darfur. Furthermore, we
are proud of our contributions to other activities of the U.N.
including the Peace Building Commission, the Human Rights Council and security sector reform.
“Mr. President,
“We are gratified to note that most countries have pledged
commitment to the post-2015 Development Agenda and the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with their means of
implementation. The successor frameworks of the MDGs have
come, Mr. President, with lofty aspirations and if I may say
so, heroic assumptions! Nonetheless, they target development
cooperation by the international community up to the year
2020. And they deserve universal support.
“This is because the SDGs mirror the hopes and aspirations
of much of the world. I should stress that for the newly
adopted SDGs to be truly global, they must be practical. In
this regard, the SDGs’ core objectives of poverty eradication
and reducing inequalities must be met within the framework of
a revitalized global partnership support by concrete policies and
actions as outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
9. Luckily, these two core objectives of the SDGs are
precisely at the centre of Nigeria’s new administration’s
agenda. It must be emphasized, Mr. President, that Foreign
Direct Investment supplemented where suitable by Official
Development Assistance as outlined in the Addis Ababa
Agenda are necessary, though not sufficient, conditions for
accelerated development in countries that are trying to catch
up.
“In this connection, I would like to appeal to industrialized
countries to redeem their pledge of earmarking 0.7%
(nought point seven percent) of their GDP to development
assistance. With the sole exception of the UK, all concerned
countries have, I am told to meet the UN requirement.
But,
Mr. President, with SDGs we have the opportunity to improve
the lives of people not just in the developing world but in all
nations.
“The Secretary General himself has grouped the SDGs into what he calls six “essential elements” namely:
• Dignity
• Prosperity
• Justice
• Partnership
• Planet
• People
“As a prerequisite to these and as we look at history and
remember the terrible events that gave rise to the birth of
the United Nations in 1945, I would like to propose a seventh:
PEACE
“Peace, Mr. President, is close to the hearts of Nigerians, as
we are in the front line in the war on terror. Boko Haram’s
war against the people of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon
may not attract as much worldwide attention as the wars in
the Middle East but the suffering is just as great and the
human cost is equally high.
“This is a war about values between progress and chaos;
between democracy and the rule of law. Boko Haram
celebrates violence against the weak and the innocent and
deplorably, they hide behind their perverted interpretation of
Islam. Boko Haram is as far away from Islam as any one can
think of.
“Many of my colleagues attending this forum would want to
know how our new government intends to tackle the huge
problems the government has inherited. Friends of Nigeria
and foreign investor partners will be encouraged to know that
the new government is attacking the problems we inherited
head-on.
“We intend to tackle inequalities arising from massive
unemployment and previous government policies favouring a
few people to the detriment of the many. We intend to
emphasize quality technological education for development and
lay foundation for comprehensive care of the aged, the
disadvantaged and the infirm. But for now terrorism is the
immediate problem.
“Accordingly, Mr. President, Members of the General
Assembly, the new Nigerian Government which I have the
honour to head, moved with dispatch to put in a bold and
robust strategy to defeat Boko Haram. Nigeria and her
neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Niger plus Benin are working
together to face this common threat within the regional
framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. We have
established a multinational joint task force to confront,
degrade and defeat Boko Haram.
Muhammadu BUhari and United Nations Secretary General
Ban ki Moon
“We have driven them away from many of their strongholds,
killed or captured many of their operatives or commanders
and freed several hundreds of hostages.
“Mr. President, one of our major aims is to rescue the
Chibok girls alive and unharmed. We are working round the
clock to ensure their safety and eventual reunion with their
families. Chibok girls are constantly on our minds and in our
plans.
“Mr. President, terrorism is by no means the major or the
only evil threatening and undermining the wellbeing of
societies around the world.
• Corruption
• Cross border financial crimes
• Cyber crimes
• Human trafficking
• Spread of communicable diseases
• Climate change
• Proliferation of weapons
are all major challenges of the 21st century which the
international community must tackle collectively. Let me
reaffirm Nigerian government’s unwavering commitment to
fight corruption and illicit financial flows. By any
consideration, corruption and cross border financial crimes are
impediments to development, economic growth, and the
realization of the wellbeing of citizens across the globe.
“Nigeria is ready and willing to partner with international
agencies and individual countries on a bilateral basis to
confront crimes and corruption. In particular, I call upon the
global community to urgently redouble efforts towards
strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for
proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of stolen
funds and assets to their countries of origin.
“Mr. President, the world is now facing a big new challenge:
human trafficking. This is an old evil taking an altogether new
and dangerous dimension threatening to upset international
relationships. We in Africa are grieved to see on international
networks how hundreds of thousands of our able bodied men
and women fleeing to Europe and in the process thousands
dying in the desert or drowning in the Mediterranean.
“We condemn in the strongest terms these people traffickers
and will support any measures to apprehend and bring them to
justice. At the same time, we are very appreciative of
European governments notably Italy and Germany, for their
understanding and humane treatment of these refugees.
“Last year, our continent faced the dreadful occurrence of
Ebola . We sincerely thank the international community for the
collective efforts to contain this deadly disease. We are not
out of the woods yet but we would like to record our
appreciation to the United States, United Kingdom, France and
China for their outstanding assistance in arresting the spread
of Ebola and care of those infected in collaboration with host
countries.
Mr. President,
“Nigeria fully subscribes to and fully endorses Goals 13, 14
and 15 of the SDGs regarding Climate Change. In Nigeria,
desertification and land erosion and degradation leading to
biodiversity loss are real threats to our environment and we
shall propose under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin
Commission a regional approach to combat these
environmental challenges.
“We look forward to the UN Summit on climate change in
Paris in December 2015. This summit should provide
optimism to humanity on addressing the looming threat faced
by many communities around the world.
“Mr. President,
“We are witnessing a dreadful increase in conflicts fuelled by
availability of small arms and light weapons. I call upon all
member countries to demonstrate the political will needed to
uphold the UN charter. For a start, a robust implementation of
the Arms Trade Treaty will guarantee that small arms and
light weapons are only legally transferred. Arms traffickers
and human traffickers are two evil species which the world
community should eradicate.
“Mr. President,
“As we engage in these annual debates, we need remind
ourselves of the principles that led to the founding of the
United Nations. Among those are peaceful coexistence and
self-determination of peoples. In this context, Mr.
President, the unresolved question of self-determination for
the Palestinian people and those of Western Sahara, both
nations having been adjusted by the United Nations as qualifying
for this inalienable right must now be assured and fulfilled
without any further delay or obstacle.
“The international community has come to pin its hopes on
resolving the Palestinian issue through the two – states
solution which recognises the legitimate right of each state to
exist in peace and security. The world has no more excuses or
reasons to delay the implementation of the long list of
Security Council resolutions on this question. Neither do we
have the moral right to deny any people their freedom or
condemn them indefinitely to occupation and blockade
Mr. President, delegates of member countries,
“UN is 70 years old. It can count many more than 70 major
achievements as the world’s forum and family reunion. It is
my hope that in the next 70 years, it will achieve control of
climate, help to eliminate communicable diseases, eliminate
major and local conflicts and therefore eliminate the problem
of refugees, take major steps towards reducing harmful
inequalities between nations and within nations and above all,
eliminate nuclear weapons.
“Mr. President, as this is my first address in this Assembly,
I thank you and the delegates for listening so patiently.
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