INTERNATIONAL: UN Security Council: Nigeria unveils agenda

Nigeria will use its position as United Nations Security Council President this month to highlight importance of security sector reforms, particularly in African countries, once conflict has come to an end. Nigeria's envoy to the UN and Council President for the month, Professor Joy Ogwu, yesterday, unveiled the month-long programme to newsmen at the UN headquarters in New York.

The programme has three open debates on the Council's agenda this month, according to News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.The debates are on Security Sector Reform, SSR, on October 12, the situation in Middle East on October 24 and four days later the 15-member Council will assess efforts made to implement Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. According to the programme, Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof. Olugbenga Ashiru, is expected to chair the open debate on Security Sector reform. The Security Council, at the instance of Nigeria, will also convene a meeting on piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea on October 19, the programme shows. “The meeting will provide the platform to discuss regional efforts deployed on the issue as well as areas of possible international support” she said.

The envoy is also scheduled to hold a private meeting on Oct. 25 with International Court of Justice president Hishasi Owada to discuss the role of the court in the maintenance of international peace and security. Several other briefings are expected in October, including from the UN Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA), UN-AU mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Western Sahara, Libya Somalia and Lebanon. The 15-member Council will also hold closed consultations on Oct. 20, to consider the sanctions regime in Cote d‘Ivoire, guided by resolution 1980 (2011). With regards to Cote d‘Ivoire, the Council is expected to carry out mid-term review of the sanctions it imposed including arms, financial and travel measures. The issue of the application of Palestinians to be admitted to the UN as a full member will also feature prominently in October.

Last Friday, the Security Council membership committee referred the Palestinian request for full UN membership to its experts to evaluate whether it meets the criteria for statehood. An initial report is due by mid-October. It will be recalled that on Sunday, Ogwu, appealed to Nigerians to intensify prayers for the country as it presides over the affairs of the 15-member powerful council. She made the request at St Gabriel's Anglican Church in Jamaica, Queens New York, during a Church service to commemorate Nigeria's 51st independence anniversary. She pledged that Nigeria would use its position as the Security Council president for the month of October to be “an impartial arbiter” on the ongoing issue of Palestinian statehood at the UN. She described the period of Nigeria's presidency as very “burdensome”, citing ongoing discussions on the Palestinian application for full UN membership. “The burden is awesome, the responsibility is incredible, the question of Palestine has been kicked into our court and so we ask for the wisdom of God to be an impartial arbiter to speak and stand for the truth,” she stressed.