Tinubu calls for UN collaboration in African resource protection
In a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN Headquarters in New York City, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria expressed a strong stance on the use of human rights advocacy in African development.
President Tinubu, on Wednesday, emphasized that African nations should not allow human rights advocacy to become a tool used by wealthy and powerful countries to hinder their economic reforms.
He stated that it’s time for Africa to address the illicit siphoning and smuggling of its vast mineral resources, which often enrich western economies at the expense of African stability and wealth creation.
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“We are facing the great challenge of scavengers ravaging our lands and oppressing our people on illegal mines—taking our gold and mineral wealth back to developed economies by stealth and violence against Nigerians. Where one’s human right ends, the rights of another begin. Most especially for self-protection. If we fight, they say ‘human rights,’ but we will now be aggressive and we will question motives. We will stop what is happening in our land. We require your effective collaboration,” the President firmly stated.
President Tinubu called for effective collaboration with the United Nations to address these pressing issues.
He urged the UN to shift from being a platform for discussions to becoming a hub for coordinated actions, particularly in allocating resources efficiently to aid the world’s poorest countries.
“The poverty ravaging our continent and the question of security and counter-terrorism requires us to work in close and effective synergy. The world will ignore Nigeria at its own peril. If we engage in talkshops as real challenges wreak real havoc in real time, we will fail. The time to strike is now. The time to achieve real results is now. I fought for democracy. I was detained for democracy. I am now President and I am determined to prove that democracy can provide the development that our nation and our continent so urgently demands.
“Trace those of us here to our foundations and you will find that we have ties and links with poverty. We must not be ashamed of that history, but poverty is unacceptable. I am one of the lucky survivors of gripping poverty. Nigeria is truly a giant. 240 million people and counting with a massive youth population. We are done saying too much. We seek much action. We have arisen out of poverty as individuals, but until our people have arisen out of that, we will not rest, even if it requires decisions at home that make me temporarily unpopular,” the President affirmed.
In response, UN Secretary-General António Guterres acknowledged the ongoing reforms within the UN system to better represent the developing world’s interests.
He expressed the UN’s commitment to addressing issues such as debt, concessional funding access, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“We now recognize the need to reform the institution to represent the world as it is today. The questions of debt and SDRs. The fact that middle-income countries have only marginal access to concessional funding. In the SDGs Summit, we believe we have a growing political consensus and now, a declaration, in this regard. We are pursuing this with great determination,” the UN Secretary-General said.
The UN Secretary-General further assured President Tinubu of the fullest support of the UN system for ECOWAS in light of the series of military coups which have occured in the West African sub-region in the past few months and years.
“Mr. President, we have high expectations for your presidency after the many bold steps you have taken. Nigeria is an indispensable voice in the sub-region. We will give you every support needed for your success to be achieved. Your success is Africa’s success and we wish you well,” the UN leader concluded.
