UN Speech: Buhari Calls For Halt To Killing of Rohingyas; Ignores Similar Calls from Igbos In Southeastern Nigeria.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York, (Sept, 19, 2017) the President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari called for world peace and extolled the need for respect for the rule of law, but his seeming indifference or contempt to the call for the protection of fundamental human rights and agitations going on in the southeastern part of his own country worries some observers. Below are highlights of the points in his speech.
- Praise UN for helping settle innocent civilians caught in the conflicts in Syria
- Acknowledges growth of democracy, free and fair elections, democracy and upholding of rule of law in Nigeria.
- Reaffirms Faith in Democracy
- Praises ECOWAS for bringing peace in Gambia and Ivory Coast
- Says: “New conflicts should not make us lose focus on old ongoing conflicts”
- Decries non-implementation of “several United Nations Security council resolutions on the Middle East crisis.” And that “meanwhile the suffering of the Palestinian people continues.”
- Highlights the humanitarian crisis in Yemen,
- Recalls what happened in Bosnia in 1995 and in Rwanda in 1994
- Calls on international community not to remain silent to depopulation of Rohy
- Condemns Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingyans in Myanmar and calls for help for safe return of displaced people of
- Notes that the most primary victim are the people, the most vulnerable being mostly women and children
- We must be mindful of inequality in our societies and the gap between the rich and the poor nations.
- These inequalities are part of the underlying roots for competition for resources, frustration and anger leading to instability.
- Points out the threat of accelerated nuclear weapons development program by North Korea and suggest for a peace delegation to engage the North Korea leader.
Ironically, the President has refused calls to dialogue with agitators from the southeastern part of his own country Nigeria and has ignored to address their concerns and claims that they (the Igbo people) have continued to face extrajudicial killings, marginalization, military intimidation, and harassment. Instead in recent days, Buhari’s government has engaged in a continued Military operation in the Southeast which it termed “Operation python dance.”
Irony, hypocrisy, Politics, or Sincerity? We let you be the judge.
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