Nigeria has again expressed its dissatisfaction with the
current composition of the UN Security Council, describing it as
old-fashioned and called for an urgent reform of the body...
The Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Prof.
Tijjani Bande, told NAN in New York that the current composition of the
Council was undemocratic
“The Security Council is the UN’s most powerful principal
organ with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of
international peace and security as well as accepting new members to the
UN.
“It approves any changes to its UN Charter and is vested
with powers for the establishment of peacekeeping operations and the
establishment of international sanctions.
“The Council has the authorisation for military action
through Security Council resolutions and it is the only UN body with the
authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.
“First of all, the fundamental question is that in the
current global reality, where everybody is talking democracy, United
Nations must show example.
“Clearly, it is an anachronistic notion to have a body
composed of few countries that can veto the entirety of the global
community through the Council is not representative.
“It is an anomaly and I think that has been recognised but
the politics of the reform not just of the UN in terms of the powers of
the General Assembly and its functions.
“In terms of the powers and limits of the powers of the
Security Council and in terms of representation, this is the politics
that is going on,” he said.
The Nigerian envoy declared that Nigeria and some
countries, currently left out, ‘rightly’ deserved a permanent seat on
the Council considering the current realities.
“But this journey, at the official level, started 25 years
ago. Nigeria is at the forefront of that effort and doesn’t read this
as a selfish move.
“This (permanent seat) is the right of Nigeria and other
serious nations to push and this is what other countries are also
pushing.
“Be they small states which are pushing, be they Africa
that has not any representation, this is not something that would go
away.
“Nigeria and others are committed that we cannot have a democratic system which does not represent the majority of countries.
“Our continent is completely out of contention; whether we
get two or three, the debate is we have to be on the Security Council,”
Bande said.
The body has five permanent members – the Russian
Federation, the United Kingdom, France, the People’s Republic of China,
and the United States – and 10 non-permanent members, elected on a
regional basis to serve two-year terms
The five permanent members can veto any substantive
Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new
member states or candidates for Secretary-General.
This, the Nigerian ambassador stressed, meant few countries overruling the entirety of the global community.
“The debate is still ongoing whether it is even right to have veto power,” he said.
The Nigerian envoy exuded confidence in the chance of
Nigeria to get on board of the prestigious Council on its own global
credentials or through the Africa’s continental slot.
“We have every reason to be hopeful in terms of the
contributions of Nigeria to the global community since 1960. I think we
have good credentials,” he said. (NAN)
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