President Bola Tinubu asserted that African nations will no longer accept a situation in which human rights advocacy is used by wealthy and powerful nations to stop developing economies from dealing decisively with malign actors who illicitly siphon and smuggle out the continent’s vast mineral resources.
The President, who said this while meeting with United Nations Secretary-General, António Gutiérrez, at his UN Headquarters Office in New York City, in the United States, on Wednesday, emphasised that African nations will henceforth no longer tolerate such looting of their natural resources by these elements while smuggling in western-made weapons, which enrich the wealthiest economies in the world at the parasitic expense of African stability and wealth-creation.
“We are facing the great challenge of scavengers ravaging our lands and oppressing our people on illegal mines—taking our gold and mineral wealth back to developed economies by stealth and violence against Nigerians. We will stop what is happening in our land. We require your effective collaboration”, the President affirmed.
The Nigerian leader noted that the UN must transform from being one of the world’s foremost talk shops to discuss global issues into becoming the world’s foremost action coordination centre, saying that “a situation in which 70% of the resources being devoted to the world’s poorest countries are being spent and sent back out on overheads and administrative costs, will defeat the purpose and objectives of the organisation where help is needed most”.
In response, the UN Secretary-General emphasised that the UN system is in the process of real reform that will largely address some of the institutional frailties and lack of decision-making power for the developing world, on whose behalf more than 75% of UN resources are accrued.
The UN Secretary-General further assured President Tinubu of the fullest support of the UN system for ECOWAS in light of the series of military coups, which have occurred in the West African sub-region in the past few months and years.
