A seat on the UN Security Council

WITH a population of 170 million, high quality human capital pool and a resource base that compares with the most abundant on earth, there is no denying that Nigeria has the capacity to and should indeed be projecting power both at the continental and global levels.

Sadly, the country for some time has not moved anywhere near the ideal, hence her being sidelined in the dynamics of international politics.

Hence, comments credited to Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, renowned diplomat and former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on hurdles to the country’s bid for a seat in the enlarged UN Security Council (UNSC), true as they are, would seem fitted into that prism of underperformance and a somewhat self-defeatist mould.

Gambari is right on Nigeria’s “potential and possibility of being a great nation as well as a significant player in the comity of nations” and that it has always failed in the realization of those potentials as a result of self-inflicted woes.

He may be correct but there was a need for circumspection in such presentation as he made at the Leadership Awards ceremony in Abuja the other day when he lectured on what he described as “enemies of the Nigerian state,” consisting of political fragility, political volatility, ethnic and religious mistrust, intolerance and violent extremism militating against the country’s chances.

In the present circumstance, that Nigeria needs to clinch the seat is not self-defeatism but an advertisement of the nation’s pool of excellence, hatred for mediocrity and enthronement of other salient virtues.

In his lamentations, Gambari, founder of Savannah Centre form Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, concluded that it would be difficult for Nigeria to take a permanent seat in the influential UNSC given the barrage of challenges the nation faces, especially when, among others, “ the armed forces have not been able to demonstrate exemplary capability in the defence of our territorial integrity.” He also took a swipe at successive leaders who were either inept at combating corruption or were outright corrupt themselves.

He singled out ethnicity “or, rather, wrong use of ethnicity” as one of the most dangerous of the enemies of a “beleaguered federation” where a dip in the economy arising from dipping international oil price is “compounding the fate of a country at the crossroads.”

On account of the above, Nigeria, no doubt, has the odds stacked against her. But unfortunately, what may make it harder for Nigeria to receive any support for her aspirations to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council is such crushing evidence presented in the public domain by no less a personality than a former representative of the aspiring country to the world body! So Gambari is right in his assessment but his words should not become part of psychological hurdles to the quest.

Prof. Gambari is by no means accused of not being patriotic in his motive and action especially as he also tried to proffer some solutions to challenges he believes are barriers to success in the bid. Among others, he said the challenges that need to be urgently addressed are effective peace building strategies for existing and emerging crisis areas and weighing the economic implications of continued terrorism and insurgency in the north to international economic relations. He was correct too that: “Neither complacency nor wishful thinking or mere verbalization of our ambition can lead us to the cherished goal.”

Nothing, of course, is wrong with a proper diagnosis of Nigeria’s problems, but in matters of international prestige, timing and forum matter as a poor judgment on either could be counter-productive. It would have been more appropriate if the former envoy’s public words had been espousals on the country’s willingness and ability to participate constructively in stabilising the global polity, and her capacity to act in defence of international security.

With a Foreign Affairs minister eventually in place, the Muhammadu Buhari administration is expected to unambiguously define its foreign policy with a clear-cut national strategy projected in such a way that Nigeria would rightly take what belongs to it. But this would demand focus and hard work.

Recalling the past effort at a virile foreign policy, Nigeria must be able to muster enough policy instruments with which to again lead Africa the way a captain does his team in competitive sport.

The justification, among other variables, for Nigeria becoming a permanent member of the most powerful organ of the UN includes geo-political considerations and her national as well as international credentials. Apart from the natural endowments, the country’s long time pan-African commitments are not in doubt.

The UNSC remains an important source of legitimacy for international action, so the overwhelming necessity of a comprehensive reform towards a responsive 21st century cannot be overemphasised. Curiously, the composition of the UNSC has remained unaltered since 1965 and legitimate questions are being asked on how long its legitimacy would last without additional members to reflect new realities.

Undoubtedly, Nigeria is beginning to get a new bearing that should further aid its effective participation in the international system. Indeed, as a nation, Nigeria deserves that permanent seat. Citizens and especially top officials, past and present, have a duty to support this renaissance and quest for a pride of place in the comity of nations.