YouSaid · the spoken record

Adamou

lines on the record: 124
first: 1974-09-24
most recent: 1978-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
sources: un-general-debate

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“Security, in its numerous aspects, is at the heart of the concerns of all States, particularly the young States, which are the most vulnerable. However, the main task incumbent on everyone is above all to feed, care for and educate our populations. Consequently, let us look beyond the intentions which we sometimes read into the activities of others, let us cultivate a spirit of universal detente and let- us together resolutely take the beneficial path of genuine international co-operation—the only path likely to relieve humanity of its sufferings and thus to solve the many problems confronting it.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Saouma, the Director- General of the FAO, to implement a strategy and open up long-term prospects for a rapid increase in food production in Africa merit attention. We dare to hope that this analysis will contain a genuine plan of action for a radical struggle against drought' and other permanent dangers posed by locusts and other enemies of the crops in numerous parts of Africa today. 311. My delegation would also make an urgent appeal to our respective Governments to respond more fully to the plans of action adopted in Nairobi with regard to the struggle against desertification and in Mar del Plata for the development and exploitation of potential water resources. 312. That is the contribution I wished to make, on behalf of my country, to the debate of this thirty-third regular session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“My delegation, like many others, believes that, within the framework of efforts for the establishment of the new international economic order, it is necessary to give particular attention to the urgent solution of the food problem. 308. That, in our view, is one of the many, but fundamental, aspects of the security which our nations have a right to claim. This is an elementary need which must first be satisfied, together with the other primary needs of health and education. 309. It is with this in mind that my country has supported and continues to support the setting up of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and, in general, the activities of the FAO and other agencies of the United Nations family. 310. The efforts made by Mr.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“However serious and precise- this study may be, its conclusions remain and will long remain vain hopes, as long as the political will for their implementation is not present. 306. It is to this that my delegation—a delegation from a land-locked developing country in the Sahelian region whose constant efforts to mobilize its forces are well known today—once again draws the attention of the delegations here, representatives of States or international organizations, so that our Assembly, individually or collectively, may assume its historical responsibility in the face of the challenge posed today by the world food problem. 307.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Reports from FAO, the World Bank or other specialized sources on questions of economic and social development show that there are enormous possibilities for growth in the agricultural sector, if accompanied by the requisite transfer of technology adapted to African structures. 304. Thus, these reports also indicate that, by bearing in mind available scientific and technological factors for increasing agricultural production, on the one hand, and all factors which could objectively limit world food production, on the other, we could achieve a world agricultural production capable of feeding 76 billion human beings, that is, a population some 15 to 18 times greater than the present population of the world. 305.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“It does not even produce enough either to compensate for the chronic deficits it suffers year in and year out, or to meet the needs of a growing population, whose rate of growth is the highest in the world. This is an unjust situation for Africa, particularly as this continent has sufficient potential to increase its food production to the point of self-sufficiency and-to maintain it there. 302. It has often been said and repeated that overpopulation and the demographic explosion of the third world will be at the root of the world food crisis; that being so, it is considered that the solution of the crisis would be to slow down or, indeed, to halt population growth. This is obviously a Manichaean vision of third-world problems, of African problems, for Africa remains one of the most under-populated areas of the globe. 303.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“It is agreed, then, that the problem of food on a world level is no longer one of technology; it is a political question which the whole of the international community and particularly the richest of its members must attack with swift radical measures in order to forestall the risks of a generalized catastrophe whose victims, it is calculated, would be some two-thirds of the world population. 301. We hardly need point out that these millions of human beings over whom the threats looms so close are mainly members of developing countries, and most particularly of African countries-for Africa is still behind other regions in the development of the production and distribution of food.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Because self- sufficiency in food production is essential for us, it must be achieved if Niger is to control its growth and begin to move towards development at last." 299. It is indeed very disturbing that in this era of abundance and waste, this era of advanced technology in which man is reaching out to the conquest of space, millions of other men on earth are daily facing hunger, and sometimes 'succumbing to hunger. This sad reality is perhaps the most serious and shameful of the anachronisms that exist today, a challenge to the whole of mankind. 300.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“As the President of the Supreme Military Council, Head of State, Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountche, addressing the nation on 15 April last, said: "We are always on the alert, always listening to the needs of villages which have difficult food situations, a water problem, a problem with medicines or a school problem We are continually absorbed, continually attentive and continually impatient for the reconstitution of our herds and for the realization of our projects which are delayed ... "And you know that in that area our determination has not flinched. You know that the food problem, which is one of our first concerns, is still paramount among our objectives and guides our choices....”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“As for economic development, if it is translated in terms of investment programmes and efforts to improve the standard of living it turns its back on security. The two are difficult to reconcile in one budget, particularly when it is a tight budget. 297. This concern, I was going to say this balance which it is very difficult to establish, is not, unfortunately, the only handicap on certain developing countries, particularly those of the Sahelian region, of which my country is a part. Climate fluctuates and often causes catastrophes in an economy that has no cushion against such shocks. Economies based mainly on agriculture and animal husbandry survive with difficulty the destruction caused by an uncertain climate, particularly when this is spread over a long period. 298.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Security conditions everything within the nation-State, confers value on heritage and on interests. It is said that it is better to over-prepare than to be surprised by an enemy. That concept of security is the same everywhere. We can only regret the excesses to which it leads and the withering away of confidence that results in the relations among neighbours which should become closer. 295. Unfortunately that phenomenon is extending to Africa, where certain States are accumulating weapons on a scale quite out of proportion to their internal security requirements. 296. For young countries such as ours, it is obvious that security and development are two words that go together in theory but are separated in fact. There is no development without security. That is required by the notion of the nation-State.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“There is no satisfaction to be gained from the special session on disarmament so long as the notion of development has not superseded that of the strategy of destruction. 293. I referred to security and development. These concepts, which closely affect the life of all the nations which we represent here, are practically indefinable historically. Their basic content deserves greater study. 294. Security, we are told, is without price. It often justifies the adoption of the most excessive positions in defence calculations. It pays little heed to the existence of others to whom all kinds of intentions, even the most unlikely, are attributed. In order to establish confidence on the national territory it does not hesitate to make any sacrifice on behalf of the national right to exist.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Whatever the desires of one side or the other, we believe it was impossible to resolve the problems of disarmament and international security during that special session. The background may have changed, but nothing essential changed. We must hope that the super-Powers and those which hope to be super-Powers will be wise enough to respect each other and recognize the uselessness of accumulating weapons whether sophisticated or not. What is the good of having weapons that can destroy the world 10 or 100 times over when the world can die only once? 291. Mankind can expect a lot from the nuclear field and disarmament as a whole; it has a right to. So much wealth and intelligence could do much better in the service of development programmes. 292. But although that elementary truth is often repeated no one thinks of applying it.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“It is against that background that my country will encourage any initiative for the convening of a conference on peace and security in Africa which would give our nations the tranquillity that neither ancient nor modern history has yet succeeded in giving them completely. 290. Security problems are great and worrying. We followed attentively the work of the tenth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, a session to which we brought our inmost convictions. The balance of terror which maintains the world under a permanent threat of destruction creates a situation which is both unjust and inadmissible. The stake hardly justified the persistence required to gather together such a quantity of deadly weapons.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“It is a necessary condition of the security of the continent which we dream of achieving in the best interests of our peoples. 288. In this connexion, we know that the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe produced the Final Act, signed at Helsinki on 1 August 1975, which has the merit of providing, inter alia, for a code of peaceful and friendly relations among European States, as well as for the establishment of measures of confidence in the conduct of their relations. 289. But the Final Act of Helsinki will have no value unless its ethic and scope are extended to other, non- European States; in other words, if its signatories, as well as their allies, complete their historic action by prohibiting any intervention or military interference in Africa in particular, whatever the reason or justification.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Change, whatever its nature, is always enriching and none of our States rejects it—quite the contrary -but change should in no way be an occasion for flagrant interference, alienation and destruction. 286. Many of those who discover Africa or think, they know it well enough to have praiseworthy feelings of friendship, for it hope to see their own image every time they look deep into Africa's eyes. The simple reality is that Africa is what it is and can be nothing else. It can contract certain childhood illnesses following independence and be cured of them; that is the natural order of things, even if it is inconsistent with a certain logic. 287. To respect our cultures, our customs, our ways of living and our concept of the present and future is to give us our chance of development.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“How many men of good faith and goodwill have those sirens enticed to themselves? But Africa, built in an age-old mould, made of patience and attentive tolerance, has always succeeded in regrouping and rejecting thinking which is nothing more than a basely mercenary intention thinly veiled with a few philosophical ideas. Imperialism remains imperialism, in whatever disguise. It costs the same price, the price of the freedom to exist. 285. How can we make clear the dedication of our countries to liberty and our profound desire to be ourselves, the deep meaning that we give to our solidarity? It is no longer possible to live in a closed community, within a wall.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Perhaps we may merely express the hope of seeing them finally assume their historical responsibilities in the face of the scourge of apartheid and its henchmen—and I am referring to the Vorsters, the Ian Smiths, the Pik Bothas and the other Bob Denards. 283. The security of the continent requires that, just as it requires that the umbilical cord that links Pretoria to Tel Aviv be cut. That connexion is another two-way mirror created by the nature of things to perpetuate insecurity in the Middle East and Africa. That is a cancer, like any other. 284. In addition to the structures of insecurity and the blocking of development in Africa, Africa has to face the demons of ideology which flatter men's minds with sweet-sounding arguments conceived for a kind of intellectual guerrilla warfare.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Apartheid and its henchmen, not content with crushing the black man in his own country simply because he is black, are sowing destabilization and war in neighbouring countries simply because their inhabitants are black, thus creating a climate of insecurity and anger throughout the continent. 282. Africa, subjected to the stubborn will of a band of pariahs, has no choice. A cancer is a cancer. It must be cut out, but no one can disregard the consequences of an operation of that kind. The many companies which feed the bonfires in that camp of hell are, we are told, slowly beginning to understand that they cannot play with human life with impunity. There is a time for everything. Perhaps we may express the hope of seeing the Western Powers persevere in the effort they have begun in Namibia and Zimbabwe?”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“While the insecurity of African States stems in part from the vicissitudes of political options and negative choices with regard to economic flows and the importation of products which the culture of the continent cannot assimilate, it also arises out of the existence of the cancer of South Africa, with apartheid and its henchmen. What man of justice would not feel troubled by the martyrdom of Steven Biko, by all those defenceless men, rejected by the laws of their own country as mere cattle placed in a strait-jacket of non-dignity, non-humanity and nonexistence?”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Many hoped that the African continent, which had just emerged from the black night of colonialism, after millions of its sons had known slavery, exile and dehumanization would finally, at the moment of its rebirth, know the joy of existence and of preparing its future in accordance with principles recognized by all charters. 280. Quickly, alas, those charters were abandoned. The OAU, which very early revealed the determination of the continent to cope with events, after several successes is moving towards impotence and unfortunately tending to become bogged down in paralysing contradictions, nullifying its capacity to damp down even the tiniest flash-point. In this general disarray indifference takes root and the door is opened to interference and insecurity. 281.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“We know from experience that this phenomenon is not peculiar to Africa. It has long existed in Latin America and Asia, where it has succeeded in stifling whole generations. Since then it has taken more sophisticated forms but it keeps the same name: interventionism. In whatever disguise interventionism imposes on the Governments and institutions of our States major concerns that go beyond their capacity to control events and which have no relationship with the normal options and priorities of logical development. By thus thwarting all efforts, interventionism imposes its laws, which are designed to create an atmosphere of insecurity, an atmosphere of permanent destabilization, an atmosphere of despair. 279.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Hence the difficulties that are deliberately created to prevent regional groups from forging the necessary strength and solidarity for the development of their peoples; hence the abandonment of development programmes in order to pursue a more urgent need—security; hence the backwardness imposed on the peoples of Africa by their subordinate role as producers and suppliers of raw materials; hence the threats and intimidations that slow down the education effort needed to liberate the masses from the cultural and economic alienation to which they have always been subjected throughout the decades; hence the diabolical plan to destabilize by internal or external force; hence the fratricidal wars which are sparked off as if by magic; and hence the support given to racist South Africa to enable it to continue to trouble the rest of Africa. 278.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Security, which remains the major concern of the Government of Niger, will be the keynote of my statement this evening. The Assembly will easily understand my anxiety because, as an African, I can hardly remain silent in view of the vast conspiracy which is planned daily in the back rooms where the continent of Africa, that last stronghold of true innocence and genuine humanity, is being remodelled into ideological or economic units to reinforce a system or to ensure an increase of power.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Fifty-two nations met at San Francisco in 1945 and laid the basis for a Charter that no one disputes but that is daily violated by all those who are moved by the spirit of domination and the bitter need to exploit, in their insatiable desire to enrich themselves. Today, 150 countries — what progress towards universality! — are participating in the thirty-third session of the General Assembly. The great majority of those countries have .come to seek co-operation, but above all security, individual security and collective security. 276. This underlines the gravity of the deadlock in which we find ourselves and to resolve which we must persist in the collective struggle in order to see the ideals of equality, liberty and justice triumph. 277.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The Secretary-General recalls in his report on the work of the Organization: "One of the main reasons for setting up the United Nations was to replace the struggle for spheres of influence with a more civilized and more representative system of world order in which the nations of the world governed their relations and tackled their common problems with the agreement and participation of all, the weak as well as the strong." [See A/3311, sect. II.] 275. Thirty-three years later it is no longer a question of struggle: it is a question of wars of influence and the desire for acquisition.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Moreover, when we take up the economic relations between rich and poor countries we become lost in abstractions in trying to understand the reluctance to change of certain great economic Powers when faced with the necessity for a fundamentally new approach in a deadlocked world which cannot flourish without the active participation of the peoples of the third world. 274. A year of work, even of fruitful work, certainly does not mean a year of security.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“No doubt, too, it would be difficult to ignore <or disregard the slow and laborious effort at understanding made by parties completely divided, both with regard to social life and with regard to political and economic interests. In some almost intractable cases, like it or not, there has been a reawakening of interest in the approach to solutions, although their fundamental political dimensions have not yet changed. This applies to the problems that trouble more than ever before southern Africa and the Middle East. • 273.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“In addition to the special sessions, we have had conferences in various places, each dealing with a specific topic: Geneva, New York, Vienna, Belgrade, Khartoum and Buenos Aires, to mention just a few, and those meetings clearly showed the long road that ideas must follow in order to evolve, ripen and gain acceptance. 270. Without succumbing to euphoria or to gloom, we can say that the year has indeed been a full one, but what have we achieved? 271. There can be no doubt that those meetings kindled sparks of hope, with regard to both the fundamental questions of the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples and the establishment of the new international economic order, and the questions of peace and security. 272.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“268. Mr. President, first of all I should like to offer you my warm congratulations on your election to the presidency of our Assembly. Nor can I forget your predecessor as President, Mr. Lazar Mojsov, and the excellent work he did at the thirty-second session. 269. Unlike other sessions, the thirty-third session of the General Assembly is not taking up any new items. It closes a period of intensive activity and at the same time prolongs it in trying to consolidate better the points of agreement that have been found here and' there as a result of the patient dialogue among the different interests in this world.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“All countries have a common and necessary need for group solidarity. No country has succeeded in building its power on external forces in order to impose it on other African States. Let us remain united and let us nurture for more useful struggles in favour of our peoples, our feelings of sincere nationalists and our generous efforts for a better and united Africa. 252. In conclusion, I should like, Mr. President, to offer you my sincere congratulations on your election and on the skilful manner in which you have so far conducted our debates.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Africa needs to recover its virtues of tolerance and justice; needs that for the genuine struggle which is coming—that of recovering its dignity, that of its development. There is no such thing as an insoluble problem. Our meetings in the OAU are often an example of political goodwill in the direction of reconciliation and understanding. It must be admitted that there does not exist among us countries or men whose role it is to lead others towards any kind of destiny. Our rules, however weak they may be, our chances at a common life with its everyday uncertainties, the benefit of progress for our peoples, are contained in various charters, the best of which is that of the OAU. Those who for one reason or another think they can do without the OAU and its principles also know the risk they are running.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Our collective security is being put to the test. 249. Our generation, often tempted by ideologies which are extremely difficult to reconcile with our traditions of tolerance and freedom, runs the risk of bearing for some time to come the responsibility for these untimely imports. The great n?: are no longer making war against each other except dough intermediaries. Why should we then accept to sacrifice our peoples at the service of interests which are totally alien to them? 250. Furthermore, nationalism, which the whole world cherishes because of its noble role in the building of a just and equitable society, is often robbed of its true nature in Africa. It has become the catch-all to justify crimes, genocide and the greed of power and domination. 251.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“The sad fate of the League of Nations today threatens the United Nations, but we sincerely hope that it will be in no way deflected by the many and often deliberate obstacles which face it. We must set aside the unfortunate and inefficient practice of making majestic but idle declarations, the proliferation of repetitive resolutions and recommendations which are never implemented—in a word, we nr it set aside everything that diverts us from our own will and the compelling reasons which cause us to meet here each year for three months, for the United Nations is and will long remain the last resort of parliamentary diplomacy. 248. At the end of my statement, I should like again to turn to my African compatriots to deplore with them the acute crises, the wars and hatred which have come to our continent through a wide-open door.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“The essential reasons-and there is no need to recall them here-which influenced the creation of the United Nations, its evolution and the ever more imperative necessity for its existence and consolidation make it necessary to ensure that the Organization is able courageously and consistently to shoulder its historic responsibility concerning the serious questions which face the international community. 246. We understand this responsibility to be that of ensuring increasing rationalization of the administrative machinery, a more efficient co-ordination among the organs and institutions of the system and a greater willingness to implement the decisions taken in conformity with the wishes of the sovereign nations which we represent. 247.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“However, we are absolutely convinced that Africa will recover its dignity. We still hope that the recent Anglo-American initiatives and the efforts of the five Powers with regard to the Namibian affair will provide a serious basis for the solution of the problem of southern Africa. 245.. Before concluding, I should like to say how much hope and confidence the non-self-governing nations and the free world—namely, all mankind—place in the concerted action of our Organization. For its part, Niger continues to believe that something is possible not only in the realm of intentions but above all in that of action.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“But we are familiar with the stubbornness of the bastion of racism and also of the complicity which, under cover of multinational corporations, continues skilfully to circumvent the decisions and resolutions of the United Nations. The international community can no longer content itself with groans of despair in the face of the principal actors in these tragedies through which the black African has to live through. It must adopt specific sanctions against all States which encourage Vorster and Smith. We are all aware of the anachronism of these practices. Yet, alas, there are the African children who died at Soweto; Steven Biko, who, though he was an apostle of coexistence and non-violence, died recently, like many of his compatriots, a victim of blindness and stupidity. 244. The tribute to be paid is still very heavy.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Let us hope that the agreement reached by the two parties will lead to a definitive solution. 242. Turning now to southern Africa, that part of our continent which is still under colonial domination, we are happy to see the interest in its total and definitive liberation demonstrated daily by the international community. 243. The Western countries which, like it or not, were responsible for the birth, the evolution and the economic and technological strength of South Africa and which are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibility, have recently undertaken to try to make Vorster and his clique see reason. Let us hope that their effort is will achieve speedy success so that racism and apartheid disappear for ever from our continent.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“We remain firmly convinced that only the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories occupied since June 1967, including Jerusalem, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State can lead to the establishment of lasting peace in that region. In this connexion we continue to hope that the obstacles raised to the participation of the Palestinians in the Geneva negotiations will be overcome and that that Conference will resume its work on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions. 241. My delegation welcomes the new Soviet-United States position on this question as contained in the statement of 1 October 1977. The joint statement signed by the two Governments constitutes a helpful step towards the establishment of true peace in the Middle East.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“My delegation joins its voice to others in appealing anew to the representatives of the two communities to resume negotiations in a constructive manner, under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the basis of a mutually acceptable compromise in accordance with the aspirations of the Cypriot nation. 240. In the Middle East the Zionist enemy continues its acts of barbarous and criminal aggression against the Palestinian people, which is trying to regain its usurped homeland. Israel is stubbornly extending its occupation of Arab territories despite Security Council resolution 338(1973} and subsequent decisions of our Organization.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“It is appropriate for me to say here with how much hope we await the results of our next special session on disarmament because in the opinion of Niger the detente so dear to some and the development which is always a priority for others cannot be pursued and consolidated if every day a few more weapons are unloaded on the international market. 239. The hotbeds of confrontation proliferate, crystallizing daily the subjects of our concern. Thus on Cyprus we continue to deplore the events which have led to the division of that island in which the two communities, despite what separates them, must remain open to dialogue and reconciliation.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“While three quarters of mankind are illiterate and hungry, these nations are prepared to display their technology in the form of weapons and other deadly machines from which they gain tremendous profits. Some have put forward a figure of $360 billion, which is the sum necessary to rebuild the economy of a large part of Africa. 238. Peace and security are not the private preserve of anybody. They are necessary for all, great and small countries alike. They are a necessity in the African context, a necessity in the context of all the struggling peoples in all the dominated, exploited and enslaved nations; they are a necessity also in the context of blocs.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“It is imperative that we prevent its being transformed into an immense battlefield to which the richest will come to drop their surplus bombs on the innocent heads of our already deprived peoples." These prophetic words are being translated today into bitter reality, the backlash of that which we have denounced as the greatest scandal of our time-namely, the unbridled arms race. It is inadmissible that certain great Powers should continue to arm themselves and to arm further some small nations which are devoted to peace and tranquillity, thus disturbing the fragile balance of a divided world. How, in the present circumstances, can the so-called civilized nations of the world be understood?”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“In the opinion of my delegation it is urgently necessary that the present requirements concerning human rights, fundamental and legitimate as they are, take account of the indispensable pre-condition of their attainment: respect for the sovereign right of nations and organized human societies, respect for the right of peoples to self-determination and their right to lead in their own countries a life in conformity with their aspirations. 237. These are the prophetic words of Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountche, President of the Supreme Military Council and Chief of State: "Africa has become the pawn of the great Powers. It is, so to speak, the chosen ground for all kinds of military manoeuvres.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“The subtle game of the colonialists, which divided us in order more easily to conquer us, has now been taken over by independent and sovereign nations as their own. The principles laid down in the Charter of the United Nations and the Charter of the OAU, reaffirmed in various decisions, resolutions and statements designed to consolidate and strengthen peace and security, good-neighbourliness and fraternal co-operation among the peoples and nations of the globe, are increasingly trampled underfoot and crushed, pitifully showing us up as irresponsible and unworthy. We deliberately agree to play the game of the imperialists who set us against each other for their own ends. 236.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Whether it be a question of the numerous violations of the sovereignty and integrity of States, flagrant violations of human rights^ or the terrible race to acquire nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, we will not cease to urge this Assembly to assume its full, responsibilities and find the just solutions which these situations require. 235. Only a few years ago Africa was united and determined to throw off the stifling chains of an obsolete colonialism. Today the same Africa is witnessing the most horrible fratricidal confrontations in its history. Sister and neighbouring nations, united not only by history and geography, but also by striking natural ethnological, linguistic and cultural similarities, are fighting each other in a confrontation in which there can be no victor.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“The period since the last session, although relatively short in the life of the nations that we represent, has borne witness, through many regrettable facts and events, to the flagrant and discouraging conflicts which divide the actors in contemporary international life. We continue to deplore the fact that the world in which we live is still confronted with serious problems which open the way to, and all too often result in, a break-down of international peace and security. These two ideals, fundamental in the minds of the authors of the Charter, are the final goal of all our actions in this Organization. Thus it is with unspeakable regret that we witness the numerous cases of massive and often deliberate violations of our Charter and its principles.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“This is an unprecedented step in the improvement of the multilateral co-operation machinery and we hope that this attitude will inspire other wealthy countries to relieve the poor countries of the globe of the weight of certain debts contracted through force of circumstances which greatly hamper their fight against under-development. 233. It is also with true satisfaction that we have taken note of the announcement made by the Foreign Minister of Canada, Mr. Jamieson of the decision of his Government to participate to the extent of 10 per cent in the emergency grain reserve, estimated at 500,000 ions to cover the food deficit for the next 5 or 10 years. This measure is highly welcome to us, because the natural factors that caused the drought are still present in the Sahelian situation. 234.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“I should like to take this timely opportunity to express again, on behalf of the Government and peoples of Niger, our feelings of gratitude to the Government and people of Canada for the historic decision they took at the recent ministerial meeting of the Permanent Inter-State Committee to alleviate the external debt burden of the least developed of the developing countries members of the United Nations. By thus conceding one of the major claims of the developing countries at the Paris Conference, the Canadian Government has acted as an exemplary and effective pioneer for the new economic order which we desire with all our hearts.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“With regard to these questions, joint actions are being undertaken at various levels, especially in the framework of the Permanent Inter-State Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel, the Club des amis du Sahel, the West African Economic Community of the States of West Africa and the Cultural and Technical Co-operation Agency, and certain of their projects with regard to accessibility and the struggle against desertification, undertaken with the help of certain friendly countries, arouse immense hopes on our part.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)