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Nigeria: FG Has Capacity to Crush Militants - Maduekwe
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Leadership (Abuja)
25 July 2008
Posted to the web 25 July 2008
Emmanuel Iffer
The Federal Government has said that it has the capacity to effectively tackle and deal with the militant groups that have taken and held hostage the Niger Delta area.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, made this known yesterday in Abuja, when he declared open a one-day seminar on "Nigeria and Darfur Crisis: the Way Forward."
He said the Nigerian government was not in any way incapable of dealing with the situation in that region, but that its seeming weakness was as a result of the government's disposition as a responsible government.
Maduekwe noted that gone are the days when countries hid under the umbrella of sovereignty to perpetrate and violate the fundamental rights of their citizens. He added that as a civilised continent, Africa was no longer ready to stand aloof while political leadership, not only abuses, but also denies its citizens their basic rights as human beings.
The minister then said that this was the reason why the Yar'Adua Administration appeared to be weak in dealing with the militants.
"This is the reason why the Nigerian leadership appears to be weak on the issue of the Niger Delta problem," he emphasised.
He further argued that Africa is a civilised continent and could not afford to be lagging behind and be seen as the bad boy of the world community where citizens were subjected to oppressive leadership and several other forms of abuses.
Maduekwe said that African leaders must therefore employ humanity while attempting to quell rebellions within their national borders, since the question of humanity has now gone beyond sovereignties of nations within the current global community.
The minister used the opportunity to plead with militants in the Niger Delta to lay down their arms and give the present government the opportunity to correct the mistakes of the past, which resulted in the long neglect of the region.
He faulted the current situation where kidnapping has become the order of the day, noting that it was wrong for people who were sent to bring development to the area were taken hostage.
Speaking further, the minister said that Nigeria and its citizens have over the years made so much sacrifice for a better Africa and the entire world, as such should enjoy the respect of the international community, particularly on the continent of Africa.
He wondered why fellow Africans, who most often enjoy the benefit of Nigeria's sacrifice to save them, suddenly turn against Nigerian businessmen in an uncharitable manner.
He said the Nigerian government can no longer allow any African state maltreat its citizens on its territories in line with the citizen's diplomacy.
He urged Nigerians to be proud of themselves and their nation.
Maduekwe also noted that Nigeria had little or no choice than anchoring its foreign policy on Africa, which he said would remain so because of both its demographical and geographical position.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has said that it would do all that is legally possible to ensure that Sudan's sovereignty was defended as well as preserved as an independent African nation.
Maduekwe made this known yesterday in Abuja, during a seminar aimed to interact with the different segments of the Nigerian society in the search for peace in the Darfur region of Sudan.
He noted that Nigeria would at all times ensure that the sovereignty of Sudan and those other African states was respected.
Maduekwe said that although Nigeria would ensure the defence of sovereignty of such nations, such nations also had responsibility of defending and protecting their citizens.
He added that sovereignty of nations was not a tool of oppressing citizens, but instead, sovereignty was a vehicle of driving development and progress in such independent states.
The minister noted that Nigeria and indeed the African Union (AU), was not in any way opposed to the indictment of the Sudanese leader, Omar al-Bashir, by the International Court of Justice (ICC), but that the timing was of great concern to her.
He said that in line with the African Peace and Security Council, which Nigeria currently chairs, Nigeria would prefer that the indictment is deferred for at least 12 months before it is enforced.
Maduekwe said that enforcement of the indictment was capable of escalating the already fragile peace situation in Sudan, particularly in the Darfur region.
He said that the safety of the peacekeeping forces might also be jeopardised if the ICC indictment was enforced now, especially when the current peacekeeping forces were about to complete their duty schedule at the end of the month.
He was, however, quick to add that the Sudanese authority on its part should subject those who had been identified as perpetrators of crimes in the Darfur region to the country's internal judicial processes.
The minister then said that the seminar was a continuation of the country's effort in the search for peace globally, as well as the country's strategic interest in Sudan as a country that is home to not less than seven million Nigerian citizens and the highest contributor of troops to the peacekeeping in Darfur.
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He then urged the seminar to come up with practical recommendations that could help restore peace to the region and the country as a whole.
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