By Abiodun Oluwarotimi
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said that Nigeria deserved to have a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
President Jonathan made this comment while addressing the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Election for who occupies the seat will take place in October, this year
The president, who made a strong case for Nigeria’s election to the United Nations Security Council, declared that Nigeria’s commendable performance in previous occasions when it held a non-permanent seat on the Security Council should convince the global community that the country deserved to be elected to the council again for the 2014-2015 session.
He said: “Our support for the UN Security Council in its primary responsibility in the maintenance of international peace and security has been total and unwavering. We have, in previous membership of the Council, demonstrated both the political will and capacity to engage in key Council responsibilities. I am pleased to state that Nigeria has received the endorsement of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU). We, therefore, urge this august Assembly to endorse Nigeria’s candidature for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council,” President Jonathan said in his address to the General Assembly.”
Calling for faster action towards the democratization of the Security Council, President Jonathan told the about 192 world leaders, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, that Nigeria and other developing countries were concerned about the lack of progress in the reformation of the UN.
He said, “That is why we call for the democratization of the Security Council. This is desirable for the enthronement of justice, equity, and fairness; and also for the promotion of a sense of inclusiveness and balance in our world,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jonathan and the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga, yesterday said that Nigeria would not fail despite the ongoing security challenges confronting the country.
Speaking at the Nigeria Investment Summit at the New York Palace Hotel in New York yesterday, President Goodluck Jonathan who was represented by the Minister for Trade and Investment Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said that he would ensure that his administration embarked on policies that would stabilize the country.
He also noted that it was under the present administration that foreign investment was coming to Nigeria for the first time in the history of the country.
On security, the president commended the efforts of the security agencies In Nigeria to ensure proper protection of lives and property of both foreign and local investors.
Saying that the country must have a competitive business policy to achieve positive results, Jonathan asserted that his administration would not relent in its effort to sustain a micro-economic stability.
In his keynote address, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, who is the President of the Africa Business Roundtable, said that the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan would sustain the country.
“The positive efforts of the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration have been able to bring quality investment into Nigeria. With this agenda of Mr. President, I can boldly say that Nigeria will not fail,” Tukur noted.
He further remarked that Nigeria was at the forefront of global economic growth in the African continent and the world as a whole.
