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UN Security Council: Funds may hinder Nigeria’s bid
By Oguwike
Nwachuku
Group News Editor, Lagos
Nigeria’s bid to secure a seat on
the United Nations Security Council may suffer a set back if its diplomacy is
not adequately funded.
Part of the criteria for granting the
request of nations seeking membership is their ability to show a strong
financial base that can enable them oil the delicate wheel of diplomacy.
Director General of the Nigeria Institute
of International Affairs (NIIA) Joy Ogwu, while delivering a paper on
"African Integration Current State of African Union and the Challenges
Ahead" organised by the Centre for African Regional Studies (CARIBS),
University of Lagos on Tuesday, said Nigeria cannot run away from the fact of
adequate funding of its embassies if it is serious about its desire to be on
the council
If Nigeria is to achieve the aim, in her
view, “it should be more pragmatic by funding its embassies promptly and
adequately”.
She bemoaned a situation where some Nigerian
diplomats cannot offer a cup of tea to a visitor or reciprocate a lunch date,
something “pitiable and unhealthy to diplomatic ethics and
practices”.
Ogwu warned that Nigeria should not
expect the plum job on a platter of gold as rival South Africa has made all the
necessary preparation to grab the position.
Speaking on the backdrop of challenges
facing the African Union (AU) and integration on the continent, she lamented
the unhealthy competition between the Francophone and Anglophone countries on
inter-continental forums, saying it is a serious drawback to integration in
Africa.
On the achievements of the AU, Ogwu noted
that, among others, its New Economic Partnership for African Development
(NEPAD) initiative has attracted to Africa the financing of 17 projects worth
$952.5 million.
She also praised the AU for its Peer
Review Mechanism that mandates member nations to subject their social,
political and economic policies to periodic review, which 24 members have so
far done.
Earlier, CARIBS Director Rufus Akinyele said the seminar was
the second in the series of guest lectures by the centre to find solutions to
the incessant regional and border crises in Africa.
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