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Tag: Tijjani Bande

  • Nigeria’s special needs children put at 1.3m -Amb. Bande

    Nigeria has an estimate of 1.3 million children who are critically disabled out of estimated 25 million people with disability, the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, has said.

    Bande said this at a UN Panel on: “Special Education: A model for Sustainable and Inclusive Education in Developing Countries’’.

    The event was organised by the Permanent Mission of Nigeria, in collaboration with the The Gambia, and United Nations Global Compact.

    According to the world report on disability by the World Health Organisation, about 15 per cent of the world’s population lives with some form of disability, with two to four per cent experiencing significant difficulties in functioning.

    “In Nigeria, more that 25 million people are estimated to be affected by one disability or another, out of which three million are critically disabled.

    “Extrapolation from this figure for children with special needs will result in an estimated population of 1.3 million, a very high number indeed.

    “In addition to the commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Nigeria has a robust national policy on education which has inclusive education, as an integral part and being subjected to periodic reviews to meet changing realities’’.

    He said the National Policy on Inclusive Education had been finalized by the Ministry of Education, adding that the National Policy on Education 2014 and the earlier Universal Basic Education Act of 2004 laid great emphasis on special education.

    “Consequently, government has allocated two per cent from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the UBE Commission to support states in the country to cater for the education of children with special needs.

    “Disbursement of this fund to State Universal Basic Education Boards and some private schools commenced in 2005.

    “Government has also started the implementation of a pilot programme on inclusive education in three states in the country,’’ he said.

    The Nigerian envoy said that in 2016, a national dialogue on inclusive education was convened where all stakeholders agreed on a whole range of measures to scale up interventions for special needs education.

    “It is instructive to inform you that our government has long realized the inherent potential of children with special needs and the urgent need for a tailored educational programme.

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    “It has established, for example, Special Colleges of Education in various parts of the country to enhance the educational opportunities available to this category of children,’’ he said.

    Ms Valerie Igbinoghene, an advocate for human and community development initiatives in developing countries, regretted that children with extreme disability faced stigma in developing countries.

    Igbinoghene, a former Adviser at the Joint Office of The Commonwealth Observer Mission to the UN, stressed the urgency to drive special and inclusive education in schools in developing countries.

    “It is needless to say that there exists an importance and urgency to drive special and inclusive education in schools in developing countries, and in particular Africa.

    “This is due to current stigma facing children challenged with developmental impairments as certain cognitive disabilities have yet to become ingrained in the fabric of the respective communities that make up the region.’’

    Dr Mamadou Tangara, Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Gambia, said people with disability in Africa were usually associated with a lot of other issues that were not related to any medical condition.

    Tangara said: “they think that these are people possessed with demons, and usually we tend to just take them to the streets to beg, whereas we have ways and means we can deal with them.

    “We can try to create a better life for them on very simple things, the most important thing is to rise up to the challenge and try to find solutions to some of the problem.’’

  • ‘NAPTIP rescues 13,000, rehabilitates 8,000 trafficked persons’

    Dame Julie Okah-Donli, Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons ( NAPTIP ), said no fewer than 13,000 trafficked persons have been rescued by the agency.

    Okah-Donli disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in New York at the premiere of a movie about human trafficking in Nigeria.

    The movie, ‘Mrs Adams’, which premiered at the Nigeria House, came at a time Nigerians and Africans were taking the perilous Mediterranean Sea route to Europe, and was produced by Queen Blessing Itua.

    “So far, we’ve rescued over 13,000 victims, we’ve prosecuted about 339 traffickers and we’ve rehabilitated about 8,000 victims as well,” she said.

    According to her, the prostitution trade, which draws its recruits mainly from human trafficking, is estimated at roughly 150 billion dollars business.

    She, however, cautioned Nigerians against referring to trafficked persons as prostitutes, saying they are victims, not criminals adding “a prostitute works for herself and cuts the shots”.

    “But somebody who is sexually exploited does not work for herself, she work for someone else; she does not even have the freedom or access to the money”.

    She said many victims were scared to talk because most traffickers were known to them – family friends, boyfriends, brothers, fear of reprisals or death because of sworn oath.

    “Some of them came back with all sorts of conditions – some treatable, some untreatable, some with hepatitis, HIV, some with full-blown AIDS,” she said, adding many of the victims has psychological problems.

    “A lot of them come back mentally sick and so we have to refer them to the mental hospitals because they were traumatised, they’ve been beaten, raped and used.”

    Okah-Donli regretted that while NAPTIP tried to arrest the perpetrators, they sometimes connived with some law enforcement officers, who were supposed to protect the victims, and allowed them to escape.

    According to her, NAPTIP is making a case to ensure that NAPTIP officials are at the airports and borders to check such abuses.

    She said human trafficking involved recruitment, transporting and harbouring of human beings to exploit them sexually, for forced labour or for the purpose of organ harvesting through force, deceit, abduction, or fraud.

    She accused destination countries of irregular migrants of corruption at the detention centres, saying that is where people go to buy them for organ harvesting, sexual exploitation and forced labour.

    The NAPTIP chief, in an emotion-laden narrative, decried the rampant cases of organ harvesting, whereby people waiting for transplant went to the ‘black markets’ to buy the organs.

    “People buy men, women, boys and girls, and use them for sexual purposes or for taking their organs off them and using them for whatever purpose or sell them outrightly.”

    She said the Federal Government was responding to trafficking in persons through the domestication of the UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crimes and establishment of NAPTIP, among others.

    Okah-Donli added that trafficked persons, when rescued by NAPTIP, were counselled, treated, some went back to school while some were trained in skills acquisition programmes.

    “For us, ‘prevention is better than cure’. We try to prevent by sensitising everyone and of course we are trying to change the mindset of our youth who think that anything outside Nigeria is the best.

    “They think when they go abroad, there’s work waiting for them, there’s money everywhere. So we’re trying to make them believe, first of all, in their country and in themselves.”

    The NAPTIP chief said the Federal Government was signing bilateral agreements with the various countries of destination adding,  it planned to sign mutual legal assistance with all the endemic countries.

    NAN reports that another book, authored by Itua, ‘We are the Blessings of Africa’, which stressed the urgent need to change the perception about Africa adding, was also launched at the event.

    It was attended by Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, his Deputy, Amb. Samson Itegboje, and Senior Special Assistant to the Wife of the President, Dr Hajo Sani.

    Others were Nigeria’s Consul-General in New York Tanko Suleiman, representative of the Minister of Women Affairs, governors’ wives, commissioners for women affairs, and the civil society organisations.

    NAN

  • CISLAC urges FG to establish trust fund for recovered loot

    CISLAC urges FG to establish trust fund for recovered loot

    The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre ( CISLAC ) has urged the Federal Government to set up a separate trust fund to manage funds and assets recovered from proceeds of corruption.

    CISLAC stated this in a communiqué  signed by its Executive Director, Auwal Musa and Global Board of Trustees members, Mr Francis John and Dr Afia Zukiya and issued at the inauguration of the CISLAC global office in U.S. and the SDG 16 Shadow Report.

    The inauguration was held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

    The centre urged the Federal Government to “expedite action on asset recovery by setting up a special integrity trust fund to be monitored by the civil society.

    “This is to ensure that repatriated funds are duly channelled to sustainable development efforts.”

    It urged African countries, specifically Nigeria, to strengthen bilateral relations that would enable them to obtain the necessary information that would facilitate the repatriation of stolen funds from abroad.

    CISLAC, however, said that it was regretable that no clear institutionalised bilateral efforts had been made to curb illicit financial and arms flow or recover stolen funds of Africa, specifically Nigeria, domiciled in foreign countries.

    The civil society group expressed regret at what it termed the presence of an obnoxious CSO bill sponsored by a member of the National Assembly to scuttle the voice of the people.

    The centre stated that the bill is aimed at closing the space that should enable civil society groups to participate in the developmental efforts.

    CISLAC called for the discontinuation of the bill, saying it “poses no good intent for the development of citizens and further robs the country of inclusivity in governance.”

    In his remark, CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Musa,  acknowledged that Nigeria is in a critical period of  its history going by the current ethnic tension across the country.

    He, however, said the civil society had the mandate to advocate for peace, fairness and social justice as this would bring the much needed development.

    He added that sharing the SDG 16 Shadow Report was critical to inform of the current anti-corruption efforts of the Federal Government and entrench sustainable development.

    SDG 16 is dedicated to the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.

    Musa urged the civil society and all other stakeholders to lend their voices to the clarion call on peace and stability and eschew corruption.

    The Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, commended CISLAC on its giant strides and efforts at strengthening good governance.

    Bande said corruption was the bane of underdevelopment and social unrest in the country adding, it is the worst epidemic among religious, ethnic and socio-cultural factors affecting the country’s development.

    The Nigerian envoy observed that Nigeria had had some strong leadership whereby everything revolved around the leader but not around creating strong institutions.

    Bande called for the creation of strong institutions saying, building strong institutions should be everybody’s business.

    The Nigerian envoy urged Nigerians to promote Nigeria’s image abroad by highlighting the great achievements made by Nigerians while not losing sight of the challenges.

    The launch was attended by Nigeria’s Deputy Permanent Representative Amb. Samson Itebgoje, House Committee Chair on Poverty Alleviation, Muhammed Wudil, and Africa and Middle East Coordinator of the UN SDGs, Mr Hilary Ogbonna, among others.

  • UNGA: Nigeria signs Nuclear Weapons prohibition treaty

    UNGA: Nigeria signs Nuclear Weapons prohibition treaty

    Nigeria has signed the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty, joining dozens of other countries that signed the treaty to ban nuclear weapons amid tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, signed the treaty on behalf of Nigeria on Wednesday at the UN headquarters on the sidelines of the High-level UN General Assembly.

    After the signing ceremony, Onyeama told correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Nigeria was in support of the weapons-free world.

    He said “right from the early 60s, Nigeria has been a strong advocate of nuclear weapons prohibition and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

    “You may recall in the early 60s when France tested an atom bomb-related device in the Sahara and Nigeria cut diplomatic relations with France at the time.

    “Nigeria has always been a strong advocate of de-nuclearisation of the world. We are one of the main movers of this treaty.”

    The minister said it was unfortunate that countries with nuclear weapons saw them as deterrence and safeguarded their security.

    According to him, it will take great effort to really push and get a larger number of countries to accede to the treaty, especially nuclear weapons states.

    Nuclear Weapons
    Nuclear Weapons

    He urged countries that signed the treaty, Civil Society Organisations and intergovernmental organisations to convince others to accede to the treaty.

    The foreign affairs minister stressed that “the point made was that even if those nuclear weapons states were
    not ready to sign, they should at least take measures to ensure there was no accidental use or deliberate use of nuclear weapons.”

    The treaty would enter into force 90 days after 50 countries ratified it, while Nigeria was due to deposit its ratification soon.

    The UN had in July adopted Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty in a majority vote by 122 countries, leading toward total elimination of nuclear weapons, while 60 countries boycotted.

    With the adoption of the treaty, nuclear weapons now joined all other weapons of mass destruction
    already prohibited.

    Nigeria, together with Ireland, Austria, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa played leadership roles in bringing forward the UN resolution convening the Diplomatic Conference that negotiated the ground-breaking treaty.

    Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, said it was sad that “there were countries that still have nuclear weapons and refused to give them up”.

    Bande pointed out that resources spent in maintaining nuclear weapons could better be used in other development projects.

    According to him, those regions with nuclear weapons has continued to be unstable, citing India and Pakistan and Israel and their neighbours.

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said as he opened the treaty for signing “because there remain some 15,000 nuclear weapons in existence.

    “We cannot allow these doomsday weapons to endanger our world and our children’s future.”

    U.S. President Donald Trump told the 193-member UN General Assembly on Tuesday that if threatened, the U.S. would “totally destroy” North Korea and its 26 million people.

    President Muhammadu Buhari, in his address to the UN, said the most pressing threat to international peace and security was accelerated nuclear weapons development programme by North Korea.

    Buhari, therefore, urged that necessary pressure and diplomatic efforts be brought to bear on North Korea to accept a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

    “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,” Buhari said.

  • UN pledges support for Nigerian female politicians

    UN pledges support for Nigerian female politicians

    The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) said it would support Nigerian female politicians vying for elective positions in the 2019 general elections.

    The UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that there was the need to increase women participation in politics in Nigeria.

    The UN women chief was at the Nigeria House where he met with the Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande and the Deputy Permanent Representative, Amb. Samson Itegboje.

    Mlambo-Ngcuka had visited Nigeria in July alongside UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed to push ways to address the many challenges confronting girls and women in the country.

    She said: “We also were in Nigeria to discuss the issue of women’s participation in politics.

    “We were also in Nigeria for how we need to increase the number of women participation in politics in the next elections and the strategies to do that”.

    According to her, the next step for UN Women in the area of women participation is helping to support the women who want to run in different parts of the country to prepare.

    Mlambo-Ngcuka pledged the support of the UN women agency in this regard, saying the men do a lot to position themselves.

    “So we will be working with other civil society,” the UN Women chief said.

    According to her, she was at the Nigerian Mission to give the Ambassador feedback on the visit to Nigeria.

    She added that the briefing also included the progress the UN Women was making in Nigeria and the progress that Nigeria was making at the time of the visit.

    “We were able to renew our commitment to support girls that were affected by the abductions – the Chibok girls in particular.

    “We were also able to look at the women and girls who were in the internally displaced persons’ camps and their conditions.

    “This is to make sure that we address any violations of their rights that may happen. The government has already taken steps to address that, which we appreciate,” she said.

    Mlambo-Ngcuka explained that the UN agency was also doing a lot in the area of women peace and security in general in the country.

    “So it’s also supporting the different initiatives that government has in addressing the safety of women, including safe schools. So we were able to discuss the next steps.

    She said the agency’s tactics was to join the activities of government to increase the awareness of the communities to what creates insecurity for the girls.

    She added UN Women would also support the girls that had come back from Boko Haram abduction to de-stigmatise and to ensure their successful integration.

    She commended Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for the way he handled the affairs of the country during the period he was in the saddle as the Acting President.

    “When we were in Nigeria, we met with then Acting President and we really found each other on the same page and that’s why already we are seeing some follow-up.

    “This includes the fact that he is a ‘HeForShe’ and he’s then committed to relaunch the ‘HeForShe’.

    “We will re-launch the ‘HeForShe’ now with the President – Muhammadu Buhari,” the UN Women chief said.

    ‘HeForShe’ is a solidarity campaign for the advancement of women initiated by UN Women.

    Its goal is to engage men and boys as agents of change by encouraging them to take action against negative inequalities faced by women and girls

     

  • Nigeria urges safety for UN peacekeepers

    Nigeria urges safety for UN peacekeepers

    Nigeria has stressed the need to ensure that all UN peacekeepers deployed to troubled spots globally were safe in the course of discharging their duties.

    Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, stated this at the Security Council ‘Open Debate on the UN Peacekeeping Operations: their potential contributions to the overarching goal of sustaining peace’.

    “We wish to reiterate that, in view of the significant role of peacekeepers, it is imperative for all concerned to make efforts to ensure the safety of all peacekeepers,” Bande said.

    According to him, peacekeeping is one of the veritable tools at the disposal of the UN for performing one of its three critical founding objectives.

    “The doctrine of prevention in peacekeeping operations is not just about stopping conflicts from happening or from escalating; it is about continued engagement, from the early signs of conflict to the post-recovery phase.

    “Peace keeping and peace building have thus become so interwoven that they may be considered simultaneously at each conflict phase.

    “Even where there is yet no need for the deployment of force, the threat of force, as a deterrent, may dissuade parties from abandoning an existing peace process.

    “There is need to recognize that no two conflicts are the same, so a one-size-fits-all approach would always be misleading,” he said.

    The Nigerian envoy pointed out the analytical framework for a peacekeeping mandate needed to be unique to the conflict and to its environment only.

    He said an effective collaboration with regional arrangements in the drafting of peacekeeping mandates would be invaluable, considering the obvious advantages that such regional bodies have, including deeper insight on the conflict.

    The environment, the people and their culture and sensitivities, as well as the history of similar situations also play their parts, he said

    Bande also frowned at a situation where peace agreements were drafted in foreign capitals by people who did not have complete knowledge of all the factors responsible for the conflicts.

    The Nigerian ambassador said: “A critical element in Sustaining Peace is the opportunity for reconciliation.

    “Peace initiatives that allow stakeholders to freely initiate and conclude negotiations based on ‘give and take’ concessions, are most likely to attain enduring levels of compromise and stability.

    “A situation where parties are encouraged to sign peace Agreements drafted in foreign capitals, with presumed knowledge of the issues, and of solutions that are presumably suitable and acceptable to the parties, may not achieve the desired results.”

    Bande said a very important component of the Sustaining Peace agenda was the engagement of the civil society.

    “In the past, restriction of peace negotiations to armed parties have proven to be fatally flawed as those parties may have limited, short-sighted political objectives that do not lead to a sustained peace.

    “The involvement of youths, women, religious and community leaders have intrinsic value that supports peace on a continued basis,” he said.

    NAN reports that Nigeria is the world’s 14th largest troops contributing nation to UN peacekeeping operations.

    According to the latest data published by the United Nations Peacekeeping, Nigeria contributed a total of 2, 170 peacekeeping personnel in 2016.

    According to the report, Nigeria ranks eighth in Africa after Ethiopia, Burkina Faso – 3,036, Egypt – 2,889, Ghana – 2,972, Rwanda – 6,146, Senegal – 3,617 and Tanzania – 2,341.

    The report showed that as at Aug. 31, 2016, Nigeria had provided 403 policemen, 46 military experts and 1,721 troops, out of which 232 were females.

    According to the data, the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping missions are Ethiopia with 8,326, India with 7,471 personnel and Pakistan which contributed 7,161.

    Jamaica, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Latvia, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, contributed the least with one each.

  • Four Nigerian states domesticate SDG’s – presidential aide

    Four Nigerian states domesticate SDG’s – presidential aide

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, says four States have so far domesticated the SDGs in the country.

    Orelope-Adefulire, who disclosed this when she led a delegation to the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN, said Nigeria was doing well in the implementation of the SDGs.

    The SDGs is a successor programme to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), with a set of 17 global goals and 169 targets aimed at transforming the world by year 2030.

    The SDGs, which implementation started on Jan. 1, 2016 and terminates on Dec. 31, 2030, is a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

    The New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Orelope-Adefulire was in New York to present Nigeria’s SDGs National Voluntary Review to the UN High-level Political Forum.

    The presidential aide said the states are Benue, Edo, Lagos and Nasarawa, adding that Kaduna state is also on course to domesticate it.

    According to her, Nigeria is implementing an all-inclusive SDGs to ensure that no one is left behind.

    Orelope-Adefulire said all Nigerian groups were involved in the implementation of the SDGs, noting that while the MDGs was government-oriented, the successor programme was people-oriented.

    She explained that the Federal Government had integrated the SDGs into Nigeria’s national policy and planning frameworks.

    She said her office has Focal Persons from all the states working with the governors as well as Desk Officers in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

    The presidential aide commended the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari in the implementation of the SDGs and called for the support of all Nigerians for the administration.

    “We should pray for president Buhari because he is a good man. We should also support the administration because we have no other country.

    “Yes, there are challenges but God has a purpose for us as a country,” she said.

    In his remarks, the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, described Nigeria as “a very unique and important country” to the world.

    Bande said that most countries understood the place of Nigeria in the comity of Nations, adding that Nigerians have made their marks across the globe in all human endeavours.

    “People go from other countries to Nigeria but no one goes and return the same; they come back with deepened knowledge.

    “Nigeria has tried in various ways; what we require now is coordination and calmness,” he said.

    The Nigerian envoy commended Nigeria’s SDGs national voluntary review, saying that Nigeria had set a pace for other countries.

    “A lot of countries will learn from our review; a lot of countries require the leadership of Nigeria to follow.

    “God did not make a mistake to make Nigeria a leader; we at the mission here are playing the leadership role required of Nigeria to other missions,” he said.

  • Nigeria welcomes strong AU-UN partnership

    Nigeria welcomes strong AU-UN partnership

    Nigeria welcomed the continued efforts of the UN to enhance its relationship and cooperation with the African Union and to support effective implementation of the 2063 Agenda.

    Nigeria’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, made the remarks while delivering Nigeria’s message at the Security Council Open Debate on Peace and Security in Africa.

    Bande said “we, therefore, need to redouble efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, both at the operational, political and tactical levels.

    “This will enable us to address, in a holistic manner, the challenges faced in the fields of peace and security.

    “In this regard, Nigeria welcomes the signing in April of the new landmark framework to strengthen the partnership between the United Nations and the AU on peace and security pillars”.

    According to him, the framework will ensure a better response to the changing dimensions and evolving challenges of peace operations.

    Bande pledged Nigeria’s support to the continued efforts to strengthen African peacekeeping capabilities and emphasise the importance of implementing the Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security.

    “We also recommend the enhancement of an effective partnership, in order to improve the planning, deployment and management of African peacekeeping operations.

    “In this regard, we stress the importance of finding ways to secure predictable, adequate and sustained financial support to AU-led Peace Operations.

    “This is to ensure that the missions deployed could effectively maximise their operational capabilities to the tasks at hand,” he said.

    He noted that the option of a jointly developed and jointly funded budget would require additional work by the UN Secretariat and the AU Commission before it could be put into practice.

    “Nigeria endorses the four options outlined by the Secretary-General and we call on the Security Council to endorse these options in principle.

    “In addition to the issue of financing, we take note of the proposal in the Secretary-General’s report for a decision-making framework aimed at making the joint action more effective between the UN and the AU.’’

    Bande, however, said if indeed the primary responsibility of the Security Council was to maintain international peace and security, its work in managing international peace and security should be viewed through the lens of preventive diplomacy.

    The Nigerian envoy noted that “if the United Nations is able to assist African nations and communities in restoring their social and institutional fabric, we can reduce propensities for conflict.

  • Why nuclear weapons should be banned – Nigeria’s UN envoy

    Why nuclear weapons should be banned – Nigeria’s UN envoy

    Prof. Tijjani Bande, Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN said nuclear weapons should be banned because they cause more crises than promote peace among countries.

    Bande told a news conference at the UN that nuclear weapons now create instability globally rather than deterrence, the excuse most nuclear powers gave.

    The UN on Friday adopted the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty in a majority vote by 122 countries leading towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, while 60 countries boycotted.

    With the adoption of the nuclear treaty, nuclear weapons now joined all other weapons of mass destruction, which have already been prohibited.

    Nigeria, together with Ireland, Austria, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa played a leadership role in bringing forward the UN resolution convening the Diplomatic Conference that negotiated the ground-breaking treaty.

    Bande said it was sad that “there are countries that still have nuclear weapons and refuse to give them up”, pointing out that the resources expended on maintaining nuclear weapons could better be channeled to other development projects.

    According to him, those regions with nuclear weapons have continued to be unstable, citing India and Pakistan and Israel and its neighbours.

    “Pakistan has a very terrible relationship with its neighbor. Literally, India and Pakistan used to be one country, and the instability of the situation is that these are two nuclear neighbours.

    “So what advantage in the relationship strategically do they have? Nothing; they are just spending the money on nuclear weapons.

    “A lot of people are poor in India, a lot of people are poor in Pakistan, and everyday people are killed in low-level warfare but they are nuclear States,” he said.

    According to him, Israel also has nuclear weapon while Iran is reportedly trying to acquire one in what seems to be a sad reminder of dangerous arms race among countries.

    “So the larger question really is: there is something that makes people crazy about wanting to have latest weapons in nuclear but of what use then are they?

    “With all the provocations, would Israel use nuclear weapons in its own neighbourhood?

    “So these are the questions but when you ask these questions, people say ‘oh, my neighbour has’. He has and he can’t eat them.

    “You are trying to have, you can’t eat it, you can’t even use it. So the whole issue then is that there is a sense of competition.

    “These are like toys; the ‘big boys’ have them, I must also have them. But we are dealing with human lives, ”
    he added.

    Bande, however, warned that while countries that possessed nuclear weapons could not even use them deliberately, accidents could happen.

    The Nigerian envoy alluded to the recent nuclear weapons concerns over North Korea, saying deterrence via the threat of the use of nuclear weapons had failed.

    “In classrooms and politics, we are told they (nuclear weapons) are ‘deterrence’, I do not think that this deterrence has worked; these just are theories.

    “If there were no nuclear weapons and no threat felt by North Korea, it’s possible that the regime would not have started its efforts to produce these weapons,” he stated.

    122 nation states voted in favour of the adoption of a legally binding instrument – a treaty for the prohibition of nuclear weapons at the UN conference, while one respectively voted ‘no’ and ‘abstention’.

    Netherlands voted against while Singapore abstained as well as all the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, a fewer other countries and Japan that was the victim of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    The text adopted on Friday represented the successful outcome of the first multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations in 20 years.

    State Parties to the Treaty are expected to have the signing ceremonies at the UN headquarters in September, at the sidelines of the High-level UN General Assembly, and subsequently ratify it.

  • Nigeria backs nuclear weapons-free world

    Nigeria has voiced its support to the non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction mass (WMD), saying a world free of nuclear weapons is the ideal society it envisaged.

    Prof. Tijjani Bande, Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN, delivered this position in his statement at the Security Council Open Debate on Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

    The Nigerian envoy said: “I wish to reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to the ideal of a nuclear-free world.

    “We regard the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery as a grave threat to our collective security.

    “This indeed is a global challenge that requires concerted and sustained effort on the part of the international community, including the Security Council.

    “In recent times, the risk of non-state actors, including terrorists acquiring, developing, manufacturing and using nuclear, chemical and biological weapons remains a serious threat to global peace and security.

    “Terrorists and their sponsors have shown the intent and, at least in the case of chemical weapons, some capability to develop and acquire weapons of mass destruction and to use them.”

    According to him, Nigeria believes that the establishment of nuclear weapons-free zones across the world is a potent tool to prevent the vertical and horizontal proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

    He said Nigeria would continue to support efforts to establish nuclear weapons-free zones in parts of the world where they currently do not exist.

    He added that “we want to reiterate our commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In spite of its many known challenges and imperfections, we regard the NPT as the cornerstone of global non-proliferation regime.”

    He warned that no country was immuned to the dangers posed by nuclear weapons, saying “it was essential that we all remain committed to globally agreed ideals contained in the NPT and other relevant instruments.”

    According to him, while Nigeria recognises the right of any party to pursue a peaceful nuclear programme, this must be pursued within the ambit of the NPT and other relevant international instruments.

    “We stress that efforts aimed at nuclear non-proliferation should tally with simultaneous efforts aimed at nuclear disarmament.

    “Nigeria is concerned about the slow pace of progress toward nuclear disarmament and the lack of progress by the Nuclear-Weapon States to accomplish the task of total elimination of their nuclear stockpiles.

    “We call on the Nuclear-Weapon States to fulfil their multilateral legal obligations on nuclear disarmament.

    “Nigeria wishes to stress that resolution 1540 (2004) and its effective implementation remains key component of the global architecture for countering the danger posed by the threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”

    Bande said Nigeria was convinced that the establishment of effective precautionary measures and systems to address potential nuclear, chemical or biological proliferation was a collective responsibility incumbent upon all Member States, adding that “we must all take the lead.”

    The envoy restated Nigeria’s conviction of the validity of multilateral diplomacy in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation, saying “we must remain especially vigilant to issues that may threaten international peace and security.

    “We shall, therefore, continue to advocate for multilateralism as the core platform for negotiations in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation,” he said.

    He also warned that the emergence of extremist groups had introduced a sense of urgency in the need for the international community to take stock of the implementation of resolution 1540 and close the gaps that could be exploited by such groups to obtain and use weapons of mass destruction.

    He said it was incontrovertible that no state was immuned to the threat and consequences of WMD attack by terrorists and other non-state actors.

    “This should serve as a clarion call for us to vigorously confront one of the key security challenges of our time,” the Nigerian envoy stressed.