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.
I 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.
Muhammadu BUhari and United Nations Secretary
General Ban ki Moon
“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.
10. In this connexion, 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.
11. The Secretary General himself has grouped the SDGs into
what he calls six “essential elements” namely:
• Dignity
• Prosperity
• Justice
• Partnership
• Planet
• People
Muhammadu BUhari and United Nations Secretary
General Ban ki Moon
“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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