President Muhammadu Buhari has restated his call for the reforms of the United Nations Security Council, saying the “change is long overdue” and the world has outgrown a system designed for the world in 1945.
The President made this known in his last address before world leaders at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the United States.
He said, “I remain firmly convinced that the challenges that have come so sharply into focus in recent years and months emphasize the call by Nigeria and many other Member-States for the reform of the Security Council and other UN agencies.
“We need more effective and representative structures to meet today’s demands that have since outgrown a system designed for the very different world that prevailed at its foundation in 1945. Change is long overdue.”
Buhari had at previous UNGA sessions called for the reconstitution of the UN Security Council to reflect current security challenges.
The 15-member UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and all UN member states are obligated to comply with Council decisions.
Speaking on Wednesday, Buhari said the world is now more severely tested by fresh challenges, especially “conflicts increasingly being driven by non-state actors, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, terrorism, violent extremism, malignant use of technology” amongst others, and so there is a need for urgent reform of the UN Security Council.
“Latest in a chain of events challenging these principles is the Ukraine conflict which has already created strains that are perhaps unprecedented for a generation.
“Such a conflict will have adverse consequences for us all, hindering our capacity to work together to resolve conflicts elsewhere, especially in Africa, the Middle-East and Asia. Indeed, the ongoing war in Ukraine is making it more difficult to tackle the perennial issues that feature each year in the deliberations of this Assembly, such as nuclear disarmament, the right of the Rohingya refugees to return to their homes in Myanmar, and the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for statehood and reduction of inequalities within and amongst nations.
“The danger of escalation of the war in Ukraine further justifies Nigeria’s resolute calls for a nuclear-free world and a universal Arms Trade Treaty, which are also necessary measures to prevent global human disasters,” Buhari added.
The President further emphasised the need to reach consensus on the nuclear non-proliferation Treaty by nuclear weapon states.
