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  • Western Sahara: When Nigerians hosted an African President

    By Owei Lakemfa.

    State visits, are state visits. Usually drab affairs with polite speeches, handshakes and some reassurances. It is usually a state affair in which the people are rarely involved. Not so when President Brahim Ghali of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, SADR (Western Sahara) came calling mid- June.

    The notice of his visit was quite short and his programme, tight. So a race began to get his team accommodate a meeting between him and broad sections of the Nigerian people. It was agreed that he would be hosted under an umbrella organization; The Nigerian Movement for the Liberation of Western Sahara (NMLWS)

    The Movement reminds me of similar mass Nigerian organisations that supported the liberation struggles in Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.

    Within hours, one of the Movement’s affiliates, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) offered to provide its secretariat as venue. The NLC which is the largest labour centre in Africa also provides offices, free, for the Movement while its counterpart, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) which like the NLC, has millions of dues-paying members, provides logistical support.

    The Movement also invited representatives of seventeen Civil Society Organisations from women, youth, student and social organizations affiliated to it. The meeting was coordinated by Dr. Dipo Fashina, a past President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) the umbrella organization of all academics in Nigerian universities. ASUU is also one of the most active organisations in the Movement.

    Dr. Fashina represented the Chairperson of the Nigerian Western Sahara Solidarity Movement, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the Chairperson of the Joint African Union – United Nations Special Representative to Darfur and also, the Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Issues for the UN Secretary General.

    President Ghali came to the meeting accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister, His Excellency Ould Salek, Special Adviser, Abdati Braika and ambassador in Nigeria, Ambassador Malainine Sadik-Bashir.

    In welcoming President Ghali, NLC President, Ayuba Wabba reiterated the: “collective demand that Morocco must be isolated in the global space by all countries, not just in Africa but in the entire world until Western Sahara gains sovereignty, free from colonial control.” Represented by the President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Najeem Yasin, Ayuba reiterated: “As long as Western Sahara is not free, Africa is not free; and all Africans and African countries must be involved in the struggle.”

    The Nigeria Solidarity Movement asked me to present its speech at the occasion. I started by reminding President Ghali that Professor Gambari was Nigeria’s Foreign Minister in 1984 when Nigeria formally recognized Western Sahara as a sovereign country.

    In its address, the Movement told President Ghali: “with millions of friends in Nigeria who solidarize with the Sahrawi people, you can see that here, in Nigeria, you are at home amongst friends, comrades, brothers and sisters. So you are welcome to one of your homes in Africa.” It added: “ There are some of your fellow African Heads of State who we, our members and affiliates will not touch even with a ten- foot pole. There are some of them who will not dare come to a labour centre like the NLC without a state of emergency being declared. We cannot be friends or receive people who perpetuate colonialism and exploitation; who betray the very essence of African brotherhood and the soul of humanity.”

    The Movement asked rhetorically: “Is it not surprising that the European Union (EU) which is loud in shouting about human rights, liberty, freedom and equality, is in league with Morocco stealing the natural resources of Western Sahara?”

    It argued that refugee camps are supposed to be temporary shelter for refugees and people in refugee-like situation, and regretted that millions of Sahrawi have been forced to live in the Tindouf Refugee Camp in Algeria for the past 44 years. It added: “We do not know any people who have suffered such inhumanity. Yet the international community says it is interested in human rights, and even claims to be fighting for animal rights.”

    The Movement mentioned the case of Aminatou Haider whom it had hosted in the same NLC premises in 2009. It said when on November 13, 2009 she returned to her ancestral land, the Moroccan Monarchy blocked and deported her to the Spanish Canary Islands. It reminded all, that it took a huge international campaign before the monarchists allowed her return on December 17, 2009. It drew an inference from the this case: “In that infamous act, Morocco once again displayed the fact that the Sahrawi are not Moroccan citizens or does a country refuse its citizens entry and deports them?”

    The Nigerian Movement which described the continued occupation of Western Sahara by Moroccan troops and security as the worst type of Apartheid ever perpetuated gave a scorecard of its activities: “everywhere Morocco seeks to perpetuate its evil deeds, we are there to challenge it.

    We sometimes do not succeed, such as stopping Morocco from returning to the Africa Union, but sometimes we do, such as stopping it from being admitted as a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) We felt that the Ebola-like contagious foreign policy of Morocco must not be allowed to spread to the West African Region. Currently, apart from combating Morocco’s corruption-driven attempt to suck in some Nigerian officials to support its colonization of Western Sahara, we are also engaging the Nigerian Government to stop the Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria (FEPSON) from its indecent liaison with Morocco to sell in Nigeria, Western Sahara phosphate and natural resources plundered by Morocco.”

    Responding, President Ghali said: “ The support of Nigeria has been critical for freedom in Africa. The role of Nigeria is still needed in driving the liberation of Africa and we know it will continue until the total liberation of Western Sahara.

    Reacting to the solidarity speeches of students and youths including from the Amilcar Cabral Ideological School (ACI S) President Ghali said: “ We are very happy to see the young Nigerian generation joining the old to continue the struggle for Western Sahara liberation and to ensure that the whole of Africa is liberated”

    President Ghali left the meeting to hold talks with President Buhari who in a statement by the Presidency: “restated Nigeria’s support for the people of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), and their quest for self-determination and independence.” President Buhari added that: “Nigeria remains committed to supporting the efforts of the AU and the UN towards finding a lasting solution to the Sahrawi problem.”

    The wide and active support by Nigerians for the liberation of Western Sahara is a warning to Morocco and its collaborators that they can no longer hold Africa down.

  • UN sees increased prospects for peaceful, credible elections in Nigeria

    The United Nations says that there are increased prospects that the forthcoming general elections in Nigeria will be peaceful and credible.

    Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohamed Chambas, said this in his latest briefing to the Security Council.

    Chambas said: “In Nigeria, tensions are high ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections of Feb. 16, and the governorship and state assembly elections of March 2.

    “However, the prospects for peaceful and credible elections have been increased following the signing of the National Peace Accord in Abuja on Dec. 11, 2018.

    “Over the coming weeks, I will continue to engage actively with all stakeholders in Nigeria, including through the organisation of peace fora in the key states of Benue, Rivers, Kaduna and Kano.”

    The UN envoy said since his last briefing to the Security Council, further progress had been made in democratic consolidation in West Africa and the Sahel, in spite of persisting security challenges.

    “In the past six months, presidential elections were successfully organised in Mali, regional and parliamentary elections were held in Mauritania and Togo and local elections were organised in Cote d’Ivoire.

    “However, despite appreciable progress in democratic consolidation in the region, there is a need for continuous efforts to address contentious issues around elections.

    ” This is to prevent and mitigate election-related violence, as well as to support inclusive dialogue as a key attribute of inclusive societies.

    “This is even more important as over the next six months, the region will see several high-stake elections in Nigeria, Senegal, Mauritania and Benin.”

    He expressed regret over the rising number of attacks and the increasing sophistication in the tactics deployed by extremist groups, saying it risks undermining the collective efforts in the region.

    Military solutions, while necessary, are not sufficient, Chambas said, encouraging all actors to ensure holistic responses, grounded in the respect of human rights, and the socio-economic needs of the population in the affected areas.

    “Through inclusive approaches predicated on national ownership, we must continue to work hard on addressing the governance deficits, the extreme poverty and lack of development that feed and sustain armed violence and extremism,” he said.

    He said Boko Haram attacks in the Lake Chad Basin over the last months had increased, especially in Borno and Yobe during the last week of December alone.

    “Violent clashes between farmers and herders are also continuing, although on a lesser scale, thankfully, than in the first half of 2018,” he said.

    In its efforts towards advancing the long-term stabilisation goals of the region, Chambas said UNOWAS continued to work closely with regional partners, including ECOWAS, the G-5 Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).

    “Laudable progress was made in the implementation of Security Council resolution 2349 (2017) to support a regional response to the crisis in the Lake Chad Basin.

    “On 30 August, the LCBC Ministerial Council adopted a Regional Strategy for Stabilisation, Recovery and Resilience of the Boko Haram-affected areas of the Lake Chad Basin.

    “The meeting took place before the high-level conference on the Lake Chad region, which was held from September 3 to 4 in Berlin, during which partners pledged over $2 billion to help meet the needs of the more than 17 million people affected by this crisis.”

    He also commended the holding of the ECCAS-ECOWAS joint Summit on July 30 in Lome as an important step towards addressing cross border threats facing West and Central Africa.

    As one of the key outcomes of the summit, Heads of State and Government affirmed their readiness to enhance the inter-regional collaboration.

    It is to jointly address threats to peace and security, including from violent extremism.

    The UN envoy said the leaders also committed to holding regular meetings to identify measures for the prevention and peaceful management of farmer-herder conflicts.

  • Nigeria ranks 11th highest in child marriage – UN

    The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), on Wednesday said Nigeria ranked 11 among the 20 countries in the world with highest prevalence of child marriage.

    Mr Edward Kallon, UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, said this at the ongoing UN Women Conference 2018 in Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the four-day conference had the theme – Ending Child Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation in Africa: Dialogue with Traditional and Cultural Leaders.

    Kallon highlighted the top 20 countries with highest prevalence of child marriage according to UNICEF report titled `The State of the World’s Children 2017.’

    According to the report, Niger ranks highest with 76 per cent followed by Central African Republic with 68 per cent, Chad 67 per cent, Bangladesh 59 per cent, Burkina Faso 52 per cent, and Mali 52 per cent.

    South Sudan has 52 per cent, Guinea 51 per cent, Mozambique 48 per cent, Somalia 45 per cent and Nigeria 43 per cent, are Malawi 42 per cent, Madagascar 41 per cent, Eritrea 41 per cent.

    Other countries are: Ethiopia 40 per cent, Uganda 40 per cent, Nepal 40 per cent, Sierra Leone 39 per cent, Democratic Republic of Congo 37 per cent and Mauritania 37 per cent.

    “Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today were married as children, 17 per cent of them or 125 million live in Africa.

    “If we do nothing to accelerate progress the number of child brides in Africa will double by 2050.

    “Africa will take over South Asia to become the region with the largest number of children brides in the world,” he said.

    He said child marriage had negative implications for the household, national and regional economic prosperity and development.

    “It is important to note that the fight to end child marriage and female genital mutilation remain a key priority of the United Nations.

    “While we have made progress over the years, our achievements have been relatively little.

    “This is why we partnering with traditional and religious leaders to end the silence on child marriage and other harmful traditional practices in Africa,” Kallon said.

    Also speaking, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development, said the plight of young girls who were confronted with several challenges from birth through childhood to adulthood due to cultural practices called for concern.

    Abubakar who was represented by Hajiyah Jumai Mohammed said an estimated six million girls were married by age 15 and 36 million girls were married by age 18 nationwide.

    She said child marriage was extremely prevalent in the North West and North East region with 76 per cent and 76 per cent respectively, while the South East had the lowest prevalence with 10 per cent.

    Abubakar said the Federal Government launched a National Strategy to End Child Marriage in 2016, to reduce child marriage by 40 per cent by the year 2020 and end the practice entirely by 2030.

    She urged traditional leaders to key into the national strategy as respected authorities and influencers in the communities.

    “Religious and traditional leaders as custodians of cultural values, norms and ethics of the society, therefore, they are critical to winning the fight against harmful traditional practices,” she said.

    In his remarks, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, described child marriage and female genital mutilation as grave Human Rights violations and impediments to national development.

    Ambode who was represented by Dr Lola Akande, Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, said the fight against the harmful cultural practices required collective efforts by all.

    “Parents, religious and traditional leaders as well as all meaning Nigerian have role to play. As a government, we will continue to empower and protect the rights of women and girls,” Ambode said. (NAN)

  • COP24 to focus on carbon neutrality, gender equality – UN

    The two-week 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), which started on Sunday in Katowice, Poland, will focus on carbon neutrality and gender equality.

    The world is gathering to define how the 2015 Paris Agreement would be implemented and moved forward by its 197 parties, days after the UN sounded the alarm on the unprecedented levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

    Under the agreement, all countries have committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit the global average rise in temperature to well below two degrees centigrade, and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees centigrade.

    Kicking off the two-week event in Katowice, a team of cyclists on electric bikes arrived from Vienna, having biked 600 km- to demonstrate the value of renewable energy in reducing emissions.

    The expedition was supported by the UN Global Compact, a group of private sector companies committed to sustainable development.

    The cycling team, called “Moving for Climate NOW”, made up of about 40 people from different institutions and countries was welcomed by UN Climate Change Deputy Executive Secretary, Ovais Sarmad, and Jakub Gibek, Head of the Climate Policy Unit of the Ministry of Environment of Poland.

    Sarmad said: “I commend the cyclists involved in this bike tour for inspiring the world to move in the right direction to fulfil the promise of the Paris Agreement.

    “This is the most important COP since the signing of the agreement, and we need initiatives like yours to testify that governments, the private sector and individuals can work together to tackle climate change by committing to multilateralism.”

    To limit COP24’s footprint and achieve carbon neutrality, the conference organisers have taken a series of measures.

    First, public transportation in the city is free of charge for the duration of the conference, for all participants.

    In addition, reusable materials have been used to set up the conference rooms, including carpets and backdrops, while recycled cardboard furniture was installed the main meeting spaces.

    The conference will also enforce a strict waste management policy: distinct recycling bins will be available in all meeting rooms; and the packaging of electronic equipment has been saved and would be reused after the conference is over.

    Also, the packaging of catering products is environmentally friendly; single-use plastic products are limited across the space; and overall, the conference is paper light, with official documents available only in digital versions.

    To limit greenhouse emissions due to transportation, virtual participation is encouraged and supported through live webcasts of the main events.

    Unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions due to the event will be tracked through a rigorous calculation by the organisers based on international standards.

    It is anticipated that COP24 will generate approximately 55,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

    To offset this, the Polish Government has committed to planting more than six million trees, capable of absorbing the equivalent of the conference’s emissions in the next 20 years.

  • 1,100 journalists murdered over a decade – UN

    No fewer than 1,100 journalists were murdered over a decade in the , the UN has said.

    In 2018 alone, at least 88 journalists have been killed, according to the UN.

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in a video message for the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists’, marked annually on Nov. 2, called the killing of journalists “outrageous”.

    The UN chief also regretted that the journalists were killed in line of duty.

    Guterres said: “The killing of journalists around the world for doing their job is ‘outrageous’ and should not become the ‘new normal’.

    “In just over a decade, some 1,010 journalists have been killed for reporting the news, and in nine out of 10 cases, the perpetrators are never brought to justice”.

    The UN chief said many thousands more have been “attacked, harassed, detained or imprisoned on spurious charges, without due process”.

    The Secretary-General paid tribute to the reporters in the field “who do their jobs every day despite intimidation and threats.”

    He, however, called on the international community “to protect journalists and create the conditions they need to do their work”.

    To mark the International Day, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is launching an initiative to fuel awareness on the issue of journalists killed on the job.

    Called ‘Truth Never Dies’, it encourages people to share stories by and about fallen journalists to keep their legacies alive and to push for investigations into their deaths to be continued.

    “The truth never dies. And neither must our commitment to the fundamental right to freedom of expression,” the UN Chief said, highlighting that when journalists are attacked “societies as a whole pay a price”.

    A study on global trends in media published by UNESCO in 2017 highlighted that impunity for crimes against journalists remained the norm, and trends in kidnappings, disappearances and torture had shown substantial increases since 2012.

    The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution in September, calling on the international community to promote strategies that protect journalists and bring perpetrators of violence against the media to justice.

  • Jonathan advocates for effective leadership, reform, democratisation of United Nations

    Jonathan advocates for effective leadership, reform, democratisation of United Nations

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has called for the reform and democratisation of the United Nations in order to make it more representative and responsive to the security challenges that is now becoming a recurring issue globally.

    Jonathan made the call on Friday while presenting his remarks at the opening panel of the Dialogue of Civilisations Rhodes Forum’s 15th Anniversary Summit in Greece.

    The former president, who was the lead discussants stressed that the UN Security Council should be expanded to ensure representations from all regions and power centres in the world, adding that the UN dialogue method must also change to guarantee a more peaceful world.

    Other members of the panel were former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, former President of Mali Dioncounda Traore, professor of globalisation Ian Goldin and President of Infowatch Group, Natalya Kaspersky.

    A statement issued by Jonathan’s media adviser, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze quoted the ex-President as saying: “For the world to experience sustainable peace, effective leadership must come from the UN, the flagship of global organisations.

    “The UN that would inspire this kind of leadership should ensure equity, with leading nations and power centres representing different regions of the world, sitting at the Security Council as permanent members.

    “The UN dialogue method must, therefore, change. The Security Council of the United Nations must be democratised, in view of new global realities, in the interest of peace.”

    He further noted that as presently constituted, “the UN is portrayed as a platform where nations come to quarrel and display their might, instead of its statutory role, as a forum for unity and world peace.

    “In terms of carrying out the mandate of preventing a Third World War, we could say the UN has done exceptionally well up to this moment. However, we cannot say the same thing over its mandate of ensuring world Peace as it is obvious that the UN has not achieved much in this regard. From 1945, when 51 nations came together and now that the UN has 193 member states, the world has not known real peace.

    “The truth is that despite decades of efforts at the multinational level towards ensuring peace, the world has remained mired in developmental challenges that question man’s ability to govern, collaborate, unite and make this world better.

    “Those are challenges of poverty, healthcare, inequality and conflicts. This is because the world has not matched this zeal for organisation with a corresponding gusto for trust, good faith and the conscience for productive engagements, negotiations and dialogue.

    “So when I am asked to proffer solutions for achieving global peace and sustainable development, I will say that the answer lies in genuine dialogue. This entails negotiations, hard bargaining, inclusivity, persuasion and confidence building.”

  • Guterres pledges to reform United Nations

    Guterres pledges to reform United Nations

    Sworn in on Monday as the ninth and next UN Secretary-General, António Guterres pledged to carry out a far-reaching reform of the global organisation to make it effective and efficient in its response to global challenges.

    Guterres, in his remarks after taking the oath of office, said he would reposition development at the centre of the UN’s work and ensure that the UN can change to effectively meet the myriad challenges facing the international community.

    “The United Nations needs to be nimble, efficient and effective. It must focus more on delivery and less on process; more on people and less on bureaucracy.

    “The United Nations was born from war. Today we must be here for peace, Guterres said after taking the oath of office at a ceremony before the 193-member UN General Assembly.

    The incoming UN secretary-general noted that addressing root causes, cutting across all three pillars of the UN – peace and security, sustainable development and human rights – must be a priority for the organisation.

    Guterres, a former Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015, would replace Ban Ki-moon from Jan. 1, 2017.

    Ban will step down on Dec. 31, 2016 after leading the global organisation for the past 10 years.

    The incoming scribe was formally appointed by the General Assembly on Oct. 13, 2016 in what was the culmination of a historic process, which member States set in motion late last year.

    The selection of a new UN Secretary-General, traditionally decided behind closed-doors by a few powerful countries, for the first time in history, involved public discussions with each candidate vying for the leadership position.

    Monday’s ceremony opened with the General Assembly paying tribute to outgoing secretary-general for his contribution to the work of the UN since Jan. 1, 2006.