Nigeria yesterday secured 186 votes to join Saudi Arabia, Chile, Chad and Lithuania to replace Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo to serve a two-year term on the 15-nation United Nations Security Council from January 1, 2014.
All five countries stood unopposed in an election by the 193-member UN General Assembly.
The United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, who all have veto powers, have permanent seats on the Security Council. The other 10 seats which have no veto power, are awarded for two year periods by the General Assembly, which holds a vote every year for five of the seats. This year was the first time since 2009 that there was no contested seat.
Lithuania won 187 votes, Chile and Nigeria each picked 186 votes, Chad secured 184 votes and Saudi Arabia 176 votes.
Gambia had been challenging Nigeria, which was on the council in 2010-2011. The small West African country withdrew last week in face of Nigeria's diplomatic weight.
Lithuania will take Azerbaijan's place for Eastern Europe. As a member of the European Union and NATO its accession will reinforce the western group on the Security Council. Its 187 votes were the most secured by any country in yesterday's election. Chile takes over from Guatemala. This will be its fifth term on the council, the last in 2003-2004. It will be Saudi Arabia's first time in the council.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has welcomed Nigeria's election into a non-permanent seat of the United Nations (UN) Security Council.
Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati, in a statement yesterday, said: "On behalf of the federal government and people of Nigeria, President Jonathan wishes to convey his sincere appreciation of the support of all member-countries of the United Nations who voted for Nigeria's election to the Security Council."
According to Abati, Jonathan believes that the endorsement of Nigeria's candidature for the Security Council seat by the vast majority of member-countries is a glowing expression of support and encouragement for Nigeria's active participation in the promotion of peace, security and political stability in Africa and other parts of the world.
Also, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described Nigeria's winning of UN Security Council seat as an unprecedented feat and a testament to the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration.
The party in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said the development has clearly shown that the world recognizes the efforts of the present administration in repositioning the country.
In her reaction, the Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Joy Ogwu, expressed satisfaction on the outcome of the election and assured that Nigeria would promote preventive diplomacy for peace as a fulcrum of its agenda at the council.
Why Nigeria deserves UN Security Council seat-Foreign Affairs Minister Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and supervising minister of the ministry, Professor Viola Onwuliri, led the Federal Government negotiation team to the various bilateral meetings at the just-concluded 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In this interview with LEON USIGBE, she speaks on the benefits accruable to Nigerians from the ongoing economic diplomacy embarked upon by the Federal Government. THE Jonathan administration has been engaged in series of bilateral meetings with different countries in an attempt to build new cooperations. What will be the benefit of all these to the ordinary Nigerians? When you open up your doors to people, especially to people who have achieved a lot in their own countries, they come with a lot of goodies and these goodies will be picked by people. These goodies will impact on human beings. Their bringing them to the country will increase the number of people who are working at different levels. That is the beauty of it. As you attract people to your country, they bring investments, they bring investment, they bring other things, they bring what they have. Some of them educational incentives and so on and so forth. You people benefit from it one after the other, in groups, individually and so, it does really impact on people. You open up doors for educational development and people can attract scholarship as different countries offer scholarships if we do agree at that level. In these days of security challenges, some of these countries help us with training of security personnel and sharing of information on terrorists and terrorism. Many countries believe that Nigeria is doing well and so they want to be part of it. Many say Nigeria is growing at a rapid pace and the country is now changing their way of doing things. They want to come to Nigeria and be part of what is happening in Nigeria.
How do you ensure that the foreign investors you are inviting into the country do not go against its interests? I want to believe that Nigerians should be alert, all those dealing with foreign investments, foreign investors and foreigners. First of all for us in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we will even instructed our embassies that anybody bringing in foreign investments is welcome but what we will not want will be people bringing in their own nationals to come and take over the jobs Nigerians can do because that will not help our drive for employment for young Nigerians. That is part of what we are doing to ensure that the right things are done. The Ministry of Trade and Investment would have to put in place policies that will help to further control excesses of those who are coming in to invest in our country. I want to believe that the security agencies also will be at alert around people who are just coming in. But we can only say that these are what they can do. But the main thing is with the Nigerians who are interacting with these people, who are with them to be able to give information. If Nigerians are not being treated well, those will be taken up. I think that is also important.
[b]What do Nigerians stand to gain from a UN Security Council seat which the country is seeking? Nigeria is a member of the United Nations. The United Nations is an organisation of 193 member states, Nigeria being one of them and this is where the world is ruled from. The United Nations takes decisions that every other nation must adhere to and so, being part of governance in an organisation you belong to and you also pay so much to belong to is very important so that your ideas can be part of the consideration when decisions are being made. What it means is that things that affect your nationals will be taken into consideration and not another person doing a generalised thing before they take decisions. Nigeria that has been working very hard trying to safeguard this world; we have been involved in peacekeeping mission since the 1960s, we have sent troops to different countries of the world, especially Africa and we have put in money to ensure that democracy reigns in other countries in Africa. Just recently, Nigeria has also pledged additional $6million to help with election in Guinea Bissau. We have spent money in different countries in Africa to ensure that democracy is established and sustained. In doing that, we condemned different situations where there is rape of democracy on the continent of Africa. So, if we have done so much, it is also important that we are in the seat of government where decisions concerning security matters are taken. So, that will help us also to put up our experiences for the world to learn from. That will help us to talk directly about what concerns our continent. [/b] What will you do to improve the performance of Nigerian embassies around the world as it concerns the welfare of Nigerians abroad? I have thought about it and in fact, we have started discussion on that. We want to ensure that our own staff are doing what they are supposed to do because we still have complaints from Nigerians about the treatment they get from our embassies and I believe that has to stop because if you are sent to a foreign land to take care of Nigerians and you are not doing that, then you should come home. So, that is another angle I am going to pursue to ensure that Nigerians get benefit for their money. Anybody you send out there is in the employment of the Federal Government and he is being paid salary. So, he should work. It is totally unacceptable to me that a Nigerian in a foreign land would want the assistance of the embassy, which is like home, the only home he has there and you are not getting that. So, it is one area we are going to pursue. I also intend to put in place, different training programmes because as an academic, I believe that to change behaviour, you need to also train people. So, I want to put in place different programmes for our staff and for other people. Even for the media.
To know the real worth of the seat, I have this paper How Much Is a Seat on the Security Council Worth? Foreign Aid and Bribery at the United Nations written by Ilyana Kuziemko and Eric Werker of Havard Business School.
" Ten of the fifteen seats on the U.N. Security Council are held by rotating members serving two-year terms. We find that a country’s U.S. aid increases by 59 percent and its U.N. aid by 8 percent when it rotates onto the council. This effect increases during years in which key diplomatic events take place (when members’ votes should be especially valuable) and the timing of the effect closely tracks a country’s election to, and exit from, the council. Finally, the U.N. results appear to be driven by UNICEF, an organization over which the United States has historically exerted great control. "
I love what you are doing! Nigerians seem not to know/value international politics and all the benefits it could bring. They all pay attention to our local politics only, complain that corruption is high, shout that we practising neo-colonialism, accuse globalization of stealing our culture. Yet we are the ones being ignorant to how we should run our country (ask anybody wat they tinks abt politics, and they'll tell you "it's a dirty game, I can't go into it"). If you read the comments Nigerians are making about our UNSC election, they are so laughable, senseless and ignorant. Please let's enlighten them more....
abubaka101: I love what you are doing! Nigerians seem not to know/value international politics and all the benefits it could bring. They all pay attention to our local politics only, complain that corruption is high, shout that we practising neo-colonialism, accuse globalization of stealing our culture. Yet we are the ones being ignorant to how we should run our country (ask anybody wat they tinks abt politics, and they'll tell you "it's a dirty game, I can't go into it". If you read the comments Nigerians are making about our UNSC election, they are so laughable, senseless and ignorant. Please let's enlighten them more....
Thanks... I will try post more to inform those that will might come across the thread. Little do people know that the peace keeping missions that the nation has been engaged in these days na just a pre-political necessity for the seat... Thank God the Nigerian Army is respected in the whole of Africa as the Number one Guerrilla Force on the continent. That alone has done the job for us. I pray we utilise this wella than anything
I also join in commending ur effort in enlightening people Wα̲̅†̥ International politics is al abt and its importance to Nigeria. Talking abt the UNSC seat,it is a welcom development bt in trying to aloud dis move,we shldnt close our inner eyes to d happenings within the country. As u'r tellin d ppl d good side of it,try also tell us Wα̲̅†̥ could be wrng with if any so that ppl's view wld b balanced. I bliv Nigeria's dnt c intl.politics as smtin important because our home isn't fixed yet.This is nt d first time Nigeria will win d UNSC seat.D question dt nw coms to mind is,Wα̲̅†̥ av dey done wit it in d past? Yes we had sent troops on peacekeepin,hw many of peace ar we enjoyin @ home? Some ppl ar of d bliv dt we jt waste resources goin out dia and form Big Brother.Nigeria is d only country dt goes to other countries without any economic or political gains.History has shown us this. Inspite of Wα̲̅†̥ we did 4 South Africa Wα̲̅†̥ came out of it? Even in Liberia,aprt frm d homage dey pay to us once in a while,I dnt tink we av any strng hole dia.Am nt sayin we shld govern dia countries 4 dem,bt our presence bt b felt,dts hw to play Intl.politics. There is no free lunch in d system. I can go on and on,bt dis is jt to say few.
Articul8: I also join in commending ur effort in enlightening people Wα̲̅†̥ International politics is al abt and its importance to Nigeria. Talking abt the UNSC seat,it is a welcom development bt in trying to aloud dis move,we shldnt close our inner eyes to d happenings within the country. As u'r tellin d ppl d good side of it,try also tell us Wα̲̅†̥ could be wrng with if any so that ppl's view wld b balanced. I bliv Nigeria's dnt c intl.politics as smtin important because our home isn't fixed yet.This is nt d first time Nigeria will win d UNSC seat.D question dt nw coms to mind is,Wα̲̅†̥ av dey done wit it in d past? Yes we had sent troops on peacekeepin,hw many of peace ar we enjoyin @ home? Some ppl ar of d bliv dt we jt waste resources goin out dia and form Big Brother.Nigeria is d only country dt goes to other countries without any economic or political gains.History has shown us this. Inspite of Wα̲̅†̥ we did 4 South Africa Wα̲̅†̥ came out of it? Even in Liberia,aprt frm d homage dey pay to us once in a while,I dnt tink we av any strng hole dia.Am nt sayin we shld govern dia countries 4 dem,bt our presence bt b felt,dts hw to play Intl.politics. There is no free lunch in d system. I can go on and on,bt dis is jt to say few.
Thanks for the compliments... Fine you are right there is no free lunch in the system. Going back to your comment about the peace keeping missions Nigeria has been involved in the past, I can tell it all comes to this. Yes the good thing is that we will have more say in making decisions that concerns our neigbouring countries and assuming we were in that seat when the Bakassi Peninsula case was in court, I bet Nigeria should be smiling by now because it will be in our favour. What people dont understand is that UN rules. They rule every section in every economy in every nation. Think of the New World Order, Think United Nations.
Fine, the bad thing there is that Nigeria will have to submit to some world order decisions and might turn to a pet to the five ruling nations but in Africa, will be the giant if done well. In the just concluded AU meeting, the right was given to Nigeria anonymously I think... and I believe Nigeria should use that opportunity to prove to the rest of Africa what we are capable of as the Giant of Africa.
Really, this will even bring more businesses into Nigeria because the investors will know that they will comply to world standards in their operations and believe me, Nigeria will have a better eye in the international courts provided we stand on our ground and liaise well using it... noting that we can now sue Shell and other companies scrapping our head all these years.
We are in for the most if we are ready to use it well.
But another bad thing here is that the United States and other allies will use this means to penetrate fully into the Nigerian system in the quest of bringing a lasting solution to the Boko Haram saga. I know that presently, a panel should have been set to look into how to exploit Nigeria and the rest using Monkey and Banana mechanism. We should not be stating here how they penetrated Egypt, Libya, Syria and Somalia to name a few but to look at the best we can get from the coalition provided we go there open headed using a honeypot politics.
During the 20th century, many statesmen, such as Woodrow Wilson and Winston Churchill, used the term "new world order" to refer to a new period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power after World War I and World War II. They all saw these periods as opportunities to implement idealistic proposals for global governance in the sense of new collective efforts to address worldwide problems that go beyond the capacity of individual nation-states to solve, while always respecting the right of nations to self-determination. These proposals led to the creation of international organizations, such as the United Nations and NATO, and international regimes, such as the Bretton Woods system and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which were calculated both to maintain a balance of power in favor of the United States as well as regularize cooperation between nations, in order to achieve a peaceful phase of capitalism. These creations in particular and liberal internationalism in general, however, would always be criticized and opposed by American ultraconservative business nationalists from the 1930s on.[9] Progressives welcomed these new international organizations and regimes in the aftermath of the two World Wars, but argued they suffered from a democratic deficit and therefore were inadequate to not only prevent another global war but also foster global justice. The United Nations was designed in 1945 by U.S. bankers and State Department planners, and was always intended to remain a free association of sovereign nation-states, not a transition to democratic world government. Thus, activists around the globe formed a world federalist movement hoping in vain to create a "real" new world order.[10]
Thanks for the compliments... Fine you are right there is no free lunch in the system. Going back to your comment about the peace keeping missions Nigeria has been involved in the past, I can tell it all comes to this. Yes the good thing is that we will have more say in making decisions that concerns our neigbouring countries and assuming we were in that seat when the Bakassi Peninsula case was in court, I bet Nigeria should be smiling by now because it will be in our favour. What people dont understand is that UN rules. They rule every section in every economy in every nation. Think of the New World Order, Think United Nations.
Fine, the bad thing there is that Nigeria will have to submit to some world order decisions and might turn to a pet to the five ruling nations but in Africa, will be the giant if done well. In the just concluded AU meeting, the right was given to Nigeria anonymously I think... and I believe Nigeria should use that opportunity to prove to the rest of Africa what we are capable of as the Giant of Africa.
Really, this will even bring more businesses into Nigeria because the investors will know that they will comply to world standards in their operations and believe me, Nigeria will have a better eye in the international courts provided we stand on our ground and liaise well using it... noting that we can now sue Shell and other companies scrapping our head all these years.
We are in for the most if we are ready to use it well.
But another bad thing here is that the United States and other allies will use this means to penetrate fully into the Nigerian system in the quest of bringing a lasting solution to the Boko Haram saga. I know that presently, a panel should have been set to look into how to exploit Nigeria and the rest using Monkey and Banana mechanism. We should not be stating here how they penetrated Egypt, Libya, Syria and Somalia to name a few but to look at the best we can get from the coalition provided we go there open headed using a honeypot politics.
Thank God u said if we do it well. That is d problem we ar having. Apart frm Joy Awgu I dnt tink we av many professional diplomats in our system. Our ppl avnt trusted us dt much and Nigeria isn't doin anytin abt dt . There is no hw ur local politics will nt reflect in the Intl.politics. Do u knw we'v held dt position bfor? Of Wα̲̅†̥ good was it den to us? My questions ar nt to say its nt a tin dt we won d UNSC seat bt to wake up d sleeping Giant in us. To say more,if Africa is to be represented in the permanent UNSC seat,whch country is most eligible? Considering d fact dt some continents ar represented( America,Asia&Europe),though I knw its nt distributed dt way bt am jt saying.This can also b a motion anyways. African countries ar quite much in d UNGA so we cal clamour 4 dis as argued by sm scholars.
Thank God u said if we do it well. That is d problem we ar having. Apart frm Joy Awgu I dnt tink we av many professional diplomats in our system. Our ppl avnt trusted us dt much and Nigeria isn't doin anytin abt dt . There is no hw ur local politics will nt reflect in the Intl.politics. Do u knw we'v held dt position bfor? Of Wα̲̅†̥ good was it den to us? My questions ar nt to say its nt a tin dt we won d UNSC seat bt to wake up d sleeping Giant in us. To say more,if Africa is to be represented in the permanent UNSC seat,whch country is most eligible? Considering d fact dt some continents ar represented( America,Asia&Europe),though I knw its nt distributed dt way bt am jt saying.This can also b a motion anyways. African countries ar quite much in d UNGA so we cal clamour 4 dis as argued by sm scholars.
Thanks for bringing light to the mention of Joy Ogwu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Ogwu) but looking at her profile, she did really well in selling Africa to the Latin America. And I can tell that it did us no much good because the politics of Nigeria then was not fully trusted as other nations still think that it will soon be over ruled by the military guys.... <== we can use that as an excuse.
This is another video showing another major achievement of hers
"In negotiating any issue, you MUST have your National interest into consideration because they serve their national interest first and foremost before the wider interest but you have to link the wider interest with their national interest."
Thanks for bringing light to the mention of Joy Ogwu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Ogwu) but looking at her profile, she did really well in selling Africa to the Latin America. And I can tell that it did us no much good because the politics of Nigeria then was not fully trusted as other nations still think that it will soon be over ruled by the military guys.... <== we can use that as an excuse.
This is another video showing another major achievement of hers
"In negotiating any issue, you MUST have your National interest into consideration because they serve their national interest first and foremost before the wider interest but you have to link the wider interest with their national interest."
Yes,she made mention of national interest. This is just in theory to Nigerians mayb even to her.(I respect her intellectual&professional contributions to diplomacy ooo). That National Interest is Wα̲̅†̥ we dnt av in Nigeria.Do av knw our NI?Our leaders dnt knw it is and if dey knw,its jt on paper. How many foreign mission av we gone to wit our National Interest intact.xcept 4 in d area of 'Economic Diplomacy' dt we ar achieving sometins. Nigeria jt go on peacekeeping mission on d platform of prestige and nt National Interest.
U dint answer d question I asked up dia abt whch country in Africa is worthy of a permanent seat in UNSC
Thanks for bringing light to the mention of Joy Ogwu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Ogwu) but looking at her profile, she did really well in selling Africa to the Latin America. And I can tell that it did us no much good because the politics of Nigeria then was not fully trusted as other nations still think that it will soon be over ruled by the military guys.... <== we can use that as an excuse.
This is another video showing another major achievement of hers
"In negotiating any issue, you MUST have your National interest into consideration because they serve their national interest first and foremost before the wider interest but you have to link the wider interest with their national interest."
Yes,she made mention of national interest. This is just in theory to Nigerians mayb even to her.(I respect her intellectual&professional contributions to diplomacy ooo). That National Interest is Wα̲̅†̥ we dnt av in Nigeria.Do av knw our NI?Our leaders dnt knw it is and if dey knw,its jt on paper. How many foreign mission av we gone to wit our National Interest intact.xcept 4 in d area of 'Economic Diplomacy' dt we ar achieving sometins. Nigeria jt go on peacekeeping mission on d platform of prestige and nt National Interest.
U dint answer d question I asked up dia abt whch country in Africa is worthy of a permanent seat in UNSC
Yes,she made mention of national interest. This is just in theory to Nigerians mayb even to her.(I respect her intellectual&professional contributions to diplomacy ooo). That National Interest is Wα̲̅†̥ we dnt av in Nigeria.Do av knw our NI?Our leaders dnt knw it is and if dey knw,its jt on paper. How many foreign mission av we gone to wit our National Interest intact.xcept 4 in d area of 'Economic Diplomacy' dt we ar achieving sometins. Nigeria jt go on peacekeeping mission on d platform of prestige and nt National Interest.
U dint answer d question I asked up dia abt whch country in Africa is worthy of a permanent seat in UNSC
Believe me, I can't see any other Nation at this dispensation other than Nigeria. More so, a mutual agreement was reached at the just concluded AU meeting in supporting Nigeria.
The national interest in the peace keeping mission I will say boils down to this UN seat acquirer. Let just pray that the likes of Abati will not put his mouth/pen/finger(s) into issues that concerns this aspect and GEJ... even though I don't trust him, should make good use of it pending when we vote him out come 2015.
Yes,she made mention of national interest. This is just in theory to Nigerians mayb even to her.(I respect her intellectual&professional contributions to diplomacy ooo). That National Interest is Wα̲̅†̥ we dnt av in Nigeria.Do av knw our NI?Our leaders dnt knw it is and if dey knw,its jt on paper. How many foreign mission av we gone to wit our National Interest intact.xcept 4 in d area of 'Economic Diplomacy' dt we ar achieving sometins. Nigeria jt go on peacekeeping mission on d platform of prestige and nt National Interest.
U dint answer d question I asked up dia abt whch country in Africa is worthy of a permanent seat in UNSC
Nigeria's national interest is guided by our foreign policy. The policy aims to promote African intergration; it puts Africa as the centrepiece of it's foreign policy; it aims to promote world economic order; it aims to promote world peace. Our foreign policy is also guided by our being member of the Non-Aligned Movement. I'll post more later...
abubaka101: Nigeria's national interest is guided by our foreign policy. The policy aims to promote African intergration; it puts Africa as the centrepiece of it's foreign policy; it aims to promote world economic order; it aims to promote world peace. Our foreign policy is also guided by our being member of the Non-Aligned Movement. I'll post more later...
Wα̲̅†̥ I knw is National Interest guiding Foreign Policy and nt FP guiding NI. Yes dia ar 5 cardinal FP dt we av bt I avnt seen hw dt has hlped our NI looking at each of dem critically.
Dnt u see SA contseting d UNSC permanent seat with us in d nearest future? Even bfor now Gambia dt is like a size of peanut contests d non-permanent seat wit us. Wα̲̅†̥ is Gambia's profile in d UN?
God hlp us
Nigeria's Foreign Policy » To respect d independence of countries » Non-alignment »Non-interefence »To join International Organisations dt ar relevant to its needs and » Africa as d centre-piece
Articul8: Wα̲̅†̥ I knw is National Interest guiding Foreign Policy and nt FP guiding NI. Yes dia ar 5 cardinal FP dt we av bt I avnt seen hw dt has hlped our NI looking at each of dem critically.
Dnt u see SA contseting d UNSC permanent seat with us in d nearest future? Even bfor now Gambia dt is like a size of peanut contests d non-permanent seat wit us. Wα̲̅†̥ is Gambia's profile in d UN?
God hlp us
Nigeria's Foreign Policy » To respect d independence of countries » Non-alignment »Non-interefence »To join International Organisations dt ar relevant to its needs and » Africa as d centre-piece
Yeah I mixed up the two... Nigeria's national interest doesn't seem dynamic at all. We have to review our national foreign policy to pursue a more dynamic foreign interest.
They are basically five: 1). promotion and protection of our national interest. 2). promotion of African integration and support for African unity. 3). promotion of global peace, mutual respect among all nations and elimination of discrimination in all its manifestation. 4). respect for international law and treaty obligations as well as seeking dispute to international conflict by diplomacy. 5). promotion of a just world economic order.
abubaka101: They are basically five: 1). promotion and protection of our national interest. 2). promotion of African integration and support for African unity. 3). promotion of global peace, mutual respect among all nations and elimination of discrimination in all its manifestation. 4). respect for international law and treaty obligations as well as seeking dispute to international conflict by diplomacy. 5). promotion of a just world economic order.
Can you see what I am seeing here? The top priority is that of our National Interest.
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