AU Countries Endorse Nigeria for UN Security Council

AU Countries Endorse Nigeria for UN Security Council

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

By Paul Ohia

Nigeria was unanimously endorsed Thursday by African Union members in the nation’s quest to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in October.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, who disclosed this after a closed door meeting with other foreign ministers at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, said the major hurdle now is to convince other regional groupings like the European Union, Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Caribbean countries and similar bodies.

“Previously, we had convinced ECOWAS to support us and then we engaged in vigorous campaigns among other African countries and with the endorsement we received today, they would come out and vote for us during the election in October,” Ashiru said.

However, he said Nigeria still has a lot of work to do outside Africa in terms of convincing similar regional groupings like the African Union.

“This is because we need two-thirds majority in order to be formerly voted into the Security Council as a non-permanent member,” the minister stressed.

According to him, the strategy would be to let the other countries of the world know that Nigeria has been endorsed by the African Union and this would give the country a lot of mileage in getting their support.

“Once we have received the endorsement of our regional organisation, it is a lot easier to get the support of groups from outside Africa,”
he explained further adding that the other organisation would also demand that Nigeria supports their sundry bids within the United Nations.

He said that the UN Security Council is the highest legislative body in the world which any country craves to be part of and countries who would like to be in the council in ten years time have started their campaigns now.

Recently, President Goodluck Jonathan held a bilateral meeting with his  Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk in Abuja where Tusk accepted to back Nigeria’s bid to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Both leaders agreed that they would work together in order for Nigeria to secure the UNSC seat.

Currently, there are 10 non-permanent members at the UNSC, which together with the five permanent veto-wielding members - US, UK, France, Russia and China, make up the 15-member body, which are empowered by the UN Charter to ensure maintenance of international peace and security, investigate disputes that may escalate and the formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate armaments.

The 10 non-permanent members that Nigeria seeks to join are: Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Morocco, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Korea, and Togo.

Nigeria has been a member of the UN since October 7, 1960.