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Nigeria Deserves a Security Council Seat – Gov. Adamu
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
 Nigeria's standing in the international community make the country eminently qualified for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. This contention was made by Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Adamu at the opening of a sensitization workshop organized by the Presidential Committee on United Nations Reforms organized at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
Governor Adamu in a speech to open the workshop recalled Nigeria's active participation in the United Nations Organisation activities around the world including peace missions in Lebanon, Congo, Somalia, Western Sahara, Sierra Leone and Liberia. He said the Nigeria was also actively participating in the ongoing peace effort in the Dafur region of Sudan, saying that the country's participation in these peace missions has earned her international commendations and brought stability to many countries and regions around the world.
The United Nations reforms which are being proposed by current Secretary General, Kofi Annan will make provision for two permanent security council seats for Africa as representatives of the black world in the council. Nigeria is currently competing for one of the two seats. In the words of Governor Adamu, "Nigeria occupies a unique place among African nations and in world affairs. It is the most populous black nation in the world. One out of every four Africans is a Nigerian. One out of every five blacks in the world is a Nigerian. Twenty-five per cent of the world population is black. Yet, no black nation is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the most important organ in the UN set up. This means that the voice of the black race in world affairs is muted at best. This is unfair and unjust. It is a denial of the rights of one quarter of the world population to play an active role in how the world is governed and how nations relate to one another. Equity, fairness and justice demand that the black race must have an authentic representation and voice in the council. Its authentic representative is, obviously, Nigeria".
In light of the unique credentials of Nigeria, Governor Adamu urged all Nigerians to support the bid of Nigeria to secure the security council seat for the country.
Earlier, the vice-chancellor of the university had called on all Nigerians to brace up to the imperatives of the struggle for the country to secure the seat. Also speaking, the secretary of the presidential committee, Prof. Akin Osuntokun said Nigeria stood to gain a lot from the seat as it would be in a position to determine the dynamics of world social and economic order.
The one-day sensitization workshop was attended by intellectuals from the North-Central zone.
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