YouSaid · the spoken record

ARIKPO

lines on the record: 187
first: 1967-09-24
most recent: 1974-09-24
sittings or episodes: 6
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We approach the end of the First Development Decade with the goals and targets prescribed for the period far outside the reach of the developing countries. The aggregate rate of economic growth of more than two-thirds of the world is today little more than half of the rate of 5 per cent envisaged at the launching of the present Development Decade. The richer nations of the world have yet to assume the decisive universal role which awaits them for enhancing the effectiveness and impact of the United Nations agencies of international development. There are still strong inhibitions against the dismantling of imperial patterns of trade. 137. There has been no perceptible advance from the position of allotting to the developing countries the status of recipients of aid and technical assistance.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Nigeria has made its views known in the Disarmament Committee regarding the manner of priorities with which the Committee ought to proceed with its work. My delegation also feels that it is extremely vital to ensure that the balanced structure of the membership of the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament is preserved if its effectiveness as an appropriate negotiating machinery for delicate disarmament issues is not to be unduly prejudiced. 136. Our respected Secretary-General has proposed, in the introduction to his annual report, that this Assembly should agree to dedicate the 1970s as a disarmament decade [A/7601/Add.1, para. 42]. While endorsing that proposal, my delegation would be glad to see that the proposed disarmament decade relates to the Second United Nations Development Decade.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“There are still no clear signs about when the long-awaited bilateral negotiations on the limitation of offensive strategic nuclear weapons delivery systems and systems of defence against ballistic missiles will commence. It is our view that meaningful progress on a comprehensive test ban treaty can only be made if these talks begin at an early date and result in satisfactory progress. 135. It would be disconcerting indeed if the pursuit of other related efforts diverts attention from issues concerning nuclear disarmament which have become more urgent with the approval of the non-proliferation Treaty. The Conference of the Committee on Disarmament must not confine its activities only to non-nuclear and less urgent disarmament measures.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is not a nuclear disarmament treaty but a treaty intended to clear the ground for the nuclear weapon Powers, in accordance with Article VI of the Treaty, to: “Pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament ...”. This important provision of the Treaty was intended to give the agreement a reciprocal balance of rights and its signatories, that is, the nuclear-weapon Powers on the one hand and the non-nuclear-weapon parties to the Treaty on the other. It is therefore disappointing to note that not all the major nuclear Powers have yet deposited their instruments of ratification of the Treaty.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We are anxious that the rights of the peoples of those Territories should not be breached and that in the final analysis their future will not be dictated mainly by the adjudication of imperial interests. 134. We had hoped — and frequently advocated — that the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament would proceed expeditiously with the elaboration and conclusion of substantive disarmament measures in the nuclear field following the agreement on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII)]. This, regrettably, has not been the case. The Treaty itself seeks to maintain the status quo in regard to the nuclear-weapon Powers on the one hand and the non-nuclear-weapon Powers on the other.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“At the same time, there are a large number of far-flung and isolated colonial dependencies, whose future in the international context cannot be lightly dismissed by this Organization. The destiny to which the “small Territories” popularly referred to as “mini-States” will aspire is a matter which weighs on the international conscience and calls for the highest demonstration of a sense of inter- national justice and responsibility. My Government does not advocate a dogmatic or self-righteous solution for the future of those small Territories. We are gratified that the studies which have been undertaken on the status and future positions of those Territories have been, on the whole, thoughtful though tentative.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is no wonder that the oppressed people of southern Africa are beginning to lose faith in the ability of the international community to assist them in their legitimate struggle to secure the enjoyment of liberty and human dignity in the land of their birth. They have thus decided on armed struggle for the attainment of their liberty, a struggle which our Organization ought to support. The Nigerian delegation fears that we cannot hope to win the race against time in southern Africa as long as the régimes in that region can count on the shelter and protection of their friends who afford them the political. economic and military collaboration aimed at truncating the growth of independent Africa. 133.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Portugal is consequently exerting itself and the resources made available to it by its partners to combat the righteous forces of African freedom committed to the liberation of those portions of the African soil still under Portuguese domination. 132. In blind pursuit of their nefarious designs, South Africa, Rhodesia and Portugal are now concerting their resources to subvert the political independence of sovereign African States. Independent Africa now stands in danger of the disruptive efforts which the régimes of racial supremacy are actively promoting in that continent. In the face of those disruptive influences, the United Nations appears impotent.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The racist minority régime has now proclaimed a “constitution” for Zimbabwe which violates all the tenets of the rule of law and the universally accepted standards of human and political rights. It is planning to declare itself a republic in the expectation that it can thus secure the necessary international recognition to ensure its survival. Portugal — the third force in the “unholy alliance” in southern Africa — maintains its grotesque colonial doctrine which claims that Guinea (Bissau), Angola, Mozambique and the so-called Portuguese possessions off the coast of the African continent, are mere entities of a long moribund Lusitanian Empire.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The oppressed millions of southern Africa now seem condemned to the absurd doctrine of white supremacy rule with its concomitant intolerable colonial domination. The apartheid régime in South Africa remains unyielding in its tyrannical rule which reduces the black population of the country to the status of mere chattels. 131. South Africa clings defiantly to its criminal usurpation of the sacred rights of the people of Namibia and obstructs the legitimate aspirations of the Namibian people. In Zimbabwe, the rebel régime of Ian Smith has recently placed the crowning piece of its dangerous edifice of racial tyranny, the foundation stone of which was laid almost four years ago in its unilateral and illegal declaration of independence.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is therefore as a friend that we counsel it that the occupation by force of the territories of Member States of our Organization is incompatible with the Charter of the Organization. 130. The existence of colonial oppression and racial domination is utterly alien to the international order for which the United Nations stands. In the ten years since the historic Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, the United Nations has established an impressive record in the process of decolonization. But, significant as the past achievement has been, there are increasing signs of a half-hearted handling of the remaining problems of decolonization, particularly in southern Africa.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“My delegation agrees with the Secretary-General’s remarks that the “situation also creates, to a considerable extent, a crisis of effectiveness for the United Nations and its Members” [ibid., para. 65], and that “a will to attain peace by the parties themselves is the decisive factor” [ibid., para. 69]. 128. It is the considered opinion of my Government that Israel would not be unduly handicapped if it took the first step within the framework of the Security Council resolution of 22 November 1967 [242(1967)] towards a settlement, particularly of the questions of the termination of its continuing occupation of Arab territories and of the amelioration on humanitarian grounds of the living conditions of Arab refugees. 129. Nigeria recognizes the existence of Israel as a fact, and has diplomatic and economic relations with it.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It was primarily because of these considerations that Nigeria, then a member of the Security Council, spared no effort and time, first, to achieve a cease-fire during the June 1967 war between the Arab States and Israel and, subsequently, to assist in the negotiations which led to the adoption of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967. My Government remains convinced that the resolution clearly points the way towards a fair and just solution of the problems of the Middle East. 127. As reported by the Secretary-General in the introduction to his annual report there is at present a marked deterioration of the situation in the Middle East.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“This sorry state of affairs demands that all the Member States of our Organization should dedicate themselves anew to the principles of our Charter to which they freely subscribed as the basis of world peace and security. 125. Last year, I expressed the encouragement which my Government drew from the Paris talks on Viet-Nam. These talks have, unfortunately, not yet brought the prospects of peace in that unhappy country any nearer. Nevertheless, the hope for peace is not lost. The parties to the conflict have continued to profess their desire to bring it to an end. We, in Nigeria, fervently hope that the people of Viet-Nam will soon be delivered from a war which has ravished their homeland for so long. 126. Nigeria is attached to the Middle East by authentic bonds of history and culture.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“I regret to observe, however, that in spite of the strict and mandatory injunctions enshrined in its Charter, the United Nations appears to accept double standards in its operations. Perhaps for historical reasons, our Organization appears continually to look at the rear mirror while attempting to pilot and drive forward the world’s vehicle of time and destiny. It is significant that our Secretary-General began his introduction to his annual report with a sentence which you, Madam President, have also invoked in your address, stating that: “During the past twelve months, the deterioration of the international situation ... has continued” [ibid., para. 1]. 124. No major area of the world is free from dissidence and division, from crises and confrontations, from ideological conflicts, from privations and violence, from bias and bigotry.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Our Charter is a clarion call to all the nations of the world to work for international peace and security; to respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, large and small; to abstain from interference in the domestic affairs of other countries; to eradicate all forms of domination, colonialism and racialism; and to promote viable economic and social development throughout the world. Indeed, the principle of the inviolability of the territorial integrity of each Member State is so central to the essence of our Charter that in 1963 the African Heads of States and Government consciously and without qualification made it the cornerstone of the Charter of the Organization of African Unity. 123.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“I wish to reaffirm my country’s strong belief that the Charter of the United Nations has laid down the basic principles and objectives which should regulate and promote friendly relations between countries. But the noble goals and objectives enshrined in the Charter will never be attained if States, and particularly the big Powers, find these goals and objectives too restrictive, indeed obstructive, in their practice and pursuit of unbridled power politics.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We share in the grief of the Government and people of Guatemala whom your eminent predecessor served with distinction in many offices. We mourn the death of Mr. Emilio Arenales as an accomplished international statesman. 121. I wish also, on behalf of my delegation and Government, to express deep appreciation of the outstanding qualities of leadership and dedication to duty of our Secretary-General, U Thant. His firm grasp and clear understanding of the problems of the world, particularly those of the new nations, as shown in the introduction to his annual report [A/7601/Add.1], have renewed my Government’s unfailing admiration for him and enhanced our confidence in his sound judgement and integrity. 122.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“119. Madam President, I offer you the spontaneous felicitations of the Nigerian delegation on your richly deserved elevation to the Presidency of this Assembly. Your election to that exalted office is a fitting tribute to your own personal qualities and to our sister Republic of Liberia of which you are an illustrious daughter. Your election represents a shining testimony to African renaissance and to the emancipation of African womanhood. The Government and people of Nigeria salute you on this outstanding achievement. 120. The delegation of Nigeria joins in the tributes which have been paid from this rostrum to the memory of the late Emilio Arenales, the President of the twenty-third session of the General Assembly.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We therefore appeal to all the parties concerned to avail themselves of that resolution. My delegation further calls upon the parties to co-operate fully with Ambassador jarring, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, in his mission for peace in the Middle East. 132. In the beclouded atmosphere in which this Assembly is progressing, there may be some who have written it off as abortive and unnecessary to further the cause of international peace and order. The Nigerian delegation rejects that point of view. My delegation would rather err on the side of optimism. We therefore reaffirm our faith in this Organization as the best instrument for the pursuit of our common aspirations for peace and progress.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“A peaceful solution of the conflict which has for too long plagued the people of Viet-Nam is now overdue. 131. The Middle East crisis continues. The tremendous human suffering resulting from the unceasing tension in the area persists. The world still painfully lives with the bitter consequences and grim prospects of the war of last year. That war resulted in tens of thousands more refugees. Nigeria, as a member of the Security Council at the time, made its modest contribution to the resolution which was subsequently unanimously adopted by the Security Council, as resolution 242(1967), on 22 November 1967. My Government strongly believes that the principles laid down in that resolution as well as the mechanism it provided for promoting a just solution of the problems of the Middle East remain as valid as they were last November.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“However, we warmly supported the Treaty in the strong belief that it was in itself a momentous achievement. Since then, the Conference of the Non-Nuclear-Weapon States has been held in Geneva, and there the States concerned produced important ideas regarding security guarantees, unimpeded access to the vast potentialities of nuclear energy for peaceful uses and for ensuring accelerated disarmament measures. However, in spite of the existing international atmosphere, my delegation strongly hopes that the treaty will be ratified with the same zeal and enthusiasm with which the General Assembly recommended it for signature. 130. The Nigerian delegation is encouraged to note that the two parties directly involved in the tragic war in Viet-Nam are now engaged in talks in Paris for the purpose of paving the way towards meaningful negotiations.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The significant increase in its expenditure for projects from $26 million in 1959 to an estimated $176 million in the current year, as reported by the Secretary-General, is a testimony to the dynamic vision of its eminent Administrator. It is also a measure of the immensity of the work yet to be done to eradicate the appalling contrasts between the rich and poor nations of the world. 129. At its resumed twenty-second session, the General Assembly, by its resolution 2373(XXII), gave its blessing to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It will be recalled that both at the deliberations of the Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee in Geneva and in the consideration of the draft treaty in New York, the Nigerian delegation clearly expressed its reservations about the omission of certain important prerequisites.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The unwillingness of the industrialized countries to disavow the existing imperial patterns of trade and to translate into policy and effect the aims and purposes of the first session of UNCTAD is a sad commentary on all our resolutions on world trade and development. In this connexion, I must reiterate that my Government is keenly interested in the work and future of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Not only should a blueprint of a world industrialized development strategy for the 1970’s be prepared; its contents must also be implemented in practical terms. We welcome the interest which the Secretary-General has focused on the programme of work of UNIDO. 128. I should also like to mention that the United Nations Development Programme has been doing commendable work within its limited resources.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It is crucial to this concept that the developing countries should not be permanently allotted the status of recipients of foreign aid and technical assistance. What my Government wants is the promotion of an international economic system in which the developing countries will not suffer from unfavourable terms of trade and can stand on their own feet economically, paying their own way. It is for this reason that the Nigerian Government has always paid particular attention to the work of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the role which that body can play for bringing about a more equitable international economic order. The second session of UNCTAD in New Delhi was a disappointment to my Government.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“As we approach the closing days of the first United Nations Development Decade and are on the point of launching the second decennial period of international co-operation for development, it is the view of my delegation that we must mow take stock of our past achievements. The industrialized countries, during the current Development Decade, have registered unprecedented rates of growth, while the developing countries, on whose behalf and for whose benefit the first Development Decade programme was launched, are still hopelessly in conditions of poverty and hardship. It is mot too to stress that it is essential that we lay the foundations of the coming Development Decade in a manner that will do full justice to the developing countries. 127.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Because of its geographical position and the inspiring quality of its people, Swaziland will serve as a beacon of hope to the oppressed millions in southern Africa. 126. Compared with its other achievements, the record of the United Nations in the economic and social fields seems impressive, though still very short of expectation. For the moment at least, the Organization has the institutional arrangements and establishments necessary to give impetus to the development of the underdeveloped world. But these institutions and organs lack the tools and, often, the political will and support on the part of the industrialized countries to enable them to perform their tasks as stated in Chapter IX of our Charter, which are to promote conditions of economic and social progress and development.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The Nigerian delegation is happy to welcome the imminent accession of Equatorial Guinea to freedom and independence. Speaking on the eve of this historical occasion, I hasten to take this opportunity to welcome and salute the nascent nation. Equatorial Guinea is a close neighbour of Nigeria with which we have close ties of fraternity and affection. I therefore pledge, on behalf of my Government, that Nigeria shall continue to maintain and promote the existing fraternal relations and co-operation between the peoples of Equatorial Guinea and my country. 125. It is right and proper at this juncture that I should also welcome the admission of Swaziland into membership of the United Nations. My Government felt very proud and honoured to co-sponsor the resolution by which Swaziland was admitted.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We hope that the Government of the United Kingdom will not betray the trust of the international community, of which it is such a great champion. 123. Portugal continues to impose on Angola, Guinea (Bissau), Mozambique and the other so-called Portuguese possessions off the coast of the African continent a grotesque colonial doctrine which claims that those portions of African soil are extensions of Portugal. After our terrifying experience in which the island of Sāo Tomé has been freely used by the rebel elements of my country to prosecute their rebellion, and after the permissive use of Angola by white mercenaries to attack the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I hereby reaffirm my Government’s support for, and our readiness to extend assistance to, the freedom fighters in those territories. 124.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“But the claim for British colonial success in Africa will sound even more impressive and convincing when Southern Rhodesia, for which the United Kingdom remains the administering authority, can apply and be accepted to membership of this Organization. 122. It is over eighteen months since doth the General Assembly and the Security Council determined that the situation in Southern Rhodesia constituted a threat to international peace and security. Since then we have found that the diplomatic and mandatory economic sanctions so far applied under Chapter VII of our Charter against the illegal minority régime of Ian Smith have been of no significant avail. My delegation is happy to note that a negotiated settlement of the Rhodesian problem is presently on the way.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“South Africa compounds the illegality of its continued occupation of Namibia by subjecting its people to arbitrary arrests, deportation, illegal trials and forcible evacuation from their homes to more segregated locations. The recommendations of the Odendaal Commission are now a reality. Formal legislation has been passed in Pretoria, and Namibia is now being dismembered into Bantustans. The wards of the United Nations under resolution 2145(XXI) are now being dispossessed of their fatherland. The Namibian people are left with nothing more than despair and disillusionment. 121. The United Kingdom recently stated that, with the accession of Swaziland to independence, British colonial rule in Africa had come to an end. My delegation congratulates the United Kingdom for what it has achieved so far in this field.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Almost two years ago today, this Assembly, by resolution 2145(XXI), made a virtually unanimous decision that South Africa, by its own actions, had forfeited the right delegated to it to administer Namibia. Six months after that historic decision, this Assembly, by its resolution 2248(S-V), proceeded to establish a United Nations Council to administer the Territory with a view to bringing it to early independence. But, today, this goal is hardly in sight. The United Nations appears to lack the will to discharge the responsibilities it has assumed towards the people and Territory of Namibia. This, surely, is a sad state of affairs. 120.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The racial tyranny of apartheid flourishes; and it will continue to flourish as long as some Member States of the United Nations, particularly the major trading partners of South Africa, through their political, economic and military collaboration with its Government, encourage that Government to persist in its apartheid policies. 119. Taking shelter comfortably behind the power, indeed protection, of their friends, the authorities in Pretoria have not only refused to bring South Africa into the mainstream of international civility and respect for the values of human worth; they have also assailed the will of the international community and the inalienable rights of the people of Namibia.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“But, today, as the United Nations becomes more half-hearted in the handling of African decolonization, the millions of oppressed people in southern Africa seem progressively condemned to permanent white minority domination and subjugation. In spite of repeated international condemnation and in utter defiance of the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, the apartheid régime in South Africa remains unyielding to the admonitions of human decency and morality. Dr. Vorster and his collaborators have not only persisted in their abominable philosophy and practice of racism; they have proceeded to export and extend them to the neighbouring territories, notably Namibia and Southern Rhodesia.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The world would move much closer to the model envisaged in the founding of the United Nations if the principle of sovereign equality guided the action of every Member State of this Organization. The threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Member States would be greatly diminished if the sanctions of our Charter and not the privilege of power — military, economic and political — were permitted to prevail in the conduct of international relations. 118. One area in which this Organization can claim justifiable pride in its achievement has been in providing the impetus for the historic post-war development of decolonization. The present membership of this Organization itself attests to this record of achievement.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We expect our friends to look at them in their correct perspective. As for those of our brothers in Africa and the Caribbean who have thought it fit to meddle in our internal affairs, I can only forgive them. I am sure that the cause of world order would be better served if they paid a little more attention to the solution of their own internal problems. 117. I now turn to the state of international affairs which really is the proper responsibility of our Organization. This Organization has more than doubled in size since its foundation twenty-three years ago. Of necessity, new membership has brought new focus and fresh emphasis. These are elements of vitality, not sterility. They compel growth, not a studied promotion of a congenial status quo.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Those same neo-colonialist circles pretend that their stances and utterances are motivated by humanitarian feelings and not by other concrete and more rewarding considerations. We would ask: why are these so-called humanitarian feelings not so readily expressed with respect to the human plight of the 16 million Africans of South Africa, whose oppression and suppression depend largely on the supply of arms by a certain major Power, contrary to Security Council resolutions? Why are they not being expressed with respect to the death and suffering in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea (Bissau), Southern Rhodesia and Namibia? If I should ask these questions, it is not to minimize the terrible consequences of our internal conflict. These are our problems. It is our duty to deal with them with speed, magnanimity and patriotic zeal.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The blood of those African martyrs today waters the flourishing tree of liberty, equality and fraternity in that great sister Republic. 115. There has appeared on the African political scene another Moise Tshombe. Behind this reincarnation are some of the financial circles that inspired and attempted to sustain Katangese separatism. Both with open expressions of support and sympathy and clandestine financial assistance — in money and in arms and ammunition — and by complicity in foul propaganda, these circles have attempted, and continue to attempt, to sustain the rebellion in my country. By urging the rebels to hold out in spite of the realities of the situation in the hope of gaining ultimate victory through world intervention, they have encouraged them to exploit human suffering for political advantage. 116.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It is the view of my delegation that it is mischievous to characterize as martyrs the people of any section of my country in the current internal conflict. If one were to look for martyrs in the recent history of colonial Asia and Africa, it is to the people of Indo-China and Algeria that one would readily turn. The dogged determination and bloody struggle for eight years by the people of Indo-China, with such episodes as Dien Bien Phu, directed towards the recognition of their rights to self-determination — that is martyrdom. The millions of the fraternal people of Algeria, who for seven years were sacrificed on the altar of bigotry and colonial tyranny, whose defenceless villages were napalmed and gassed, burnt and bombed because of their heroic struggle for their right to self-determination — they are the martyrs.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Significantly, in all such areas, the civilian Ibo populations, now realizing the barrenness of rebel propaganda, are coming out in large numbers to co-operate with the federal authorities and indicating in very certain terms their willingness to take their rightful places in the Federation of Nigeria. Besides, Ibos participate on an equal status with other Nigerians in the national life of the country and hold responsible positions in the federal services of Nigeria. 113. Therefore there can be no question of denial of human rights to any section of the Nigerian population. The much canvassed right to self-determination of the East Central State is sacred and relevant only in the over-all national context of Nigeria — in just the same way as, for instance, it is in Brittany or Alsace-Lorraine. 114.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Two of these three States have now been completely liberated from the rebels by the Federal Government of Nigeria and are integrated effectively into the existing federal structure of my country. 112. The Ibo-speaking people of the former Eastern Nigeria constitute the third State — the East Central State. Over two-thirds of the area of this State has also been liberated from rebel control and reintegrated into the federal structure. The liberated areas are currently administered by an Ibo administrator assisted by other Ibos who, inter alia, man all the law enforcement agencies now effectively operating in such areas.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“They talk of the so-called “Biafra” as the land of the Ibos, deliberately losing sight of the fact that the former Eastern Region of Nigeria which those now in rebellion against their fatherland purported to incorporate into their dream empire consisted not only of the Ibos but also of other ethnic groups amounting numerically to more than five-and-a-half million people. Indeed their dream empire was to include the Mid-West State and the Western State, which they proceeded to invade and occupy in August 1967 and from which they were later driven out in October of the same year. In that region there are three States, each equal in status and rights to the other nine constituent States of the Federation.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Self-determination for a so-called “people of Biafra” has been canvassed. But what is “Biafra” other than a manifestation and an ugly repetition of the lamentable tragedy of Katanga in Africa? What is it other than a cancerous symbol of disunity and disintegration — a concept which exists only in the aberrant imagination of those who refuse to accord Africa the dignity and recognition which they reserve for themselves? It is neither a political entity nor even a geographical location. 111.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“My delegation has listened with interest to the speakers before this Assembly who have had cause to refer to the situation in my country. Much as we appreciate that some of them have been prompted by humanitarian considerations, my delegation takes a firm and categorical objection to any incursion into matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of my country. References such as we have had to the so-called “tragedy of Biafra”, the so-called “martyrdom of the Ibo people", and the suggestion founded on a patently erroneous construction of certain provisions of the Charter of this Organization that a solution must be found to our internal problem so as to give effect to certain imaginary rights, amount to a flagrant violation of the basic principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of Member States. 110.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“My Government has never and will never stand in the way of any humanitarian organization or men of goodwill who genuinely want to help us in alleviating the sufferings of the civilian victims of our internal conflict. We have never placed any obstacles in their way. Indeed we warmly welcome them. We shall continue to do so and to provide them with every possible facility and assistance. My Government assures them of its continued service and full co-operation. We do insist, however, on full respect for Nigeria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We also demand strict adherence to the established norms of international law and behaviour in the fields of international co-operation and humanitarian assistance. 109.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The historic resolution of Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of Africa Unity with respect to Nigeria, adopted on 16 September 1968 in Algiers, by which inter alia: they called “upon all Member States of the United Nations and the OAU to refrain from any action detrimental to the peace, unity and territorial integrity of Nigeria”, was a triumph for Africa and a vindication of my Government’s cause. 107. I also wish to express the deep appreciation and gratitude of my Government for the understanding, sympathy and assistance which the Secretary-General of our Organization has extended to my Government, consistent with the powers and responsibilities of his high office which we recognize as the worthy repository of all the moral and humanitarian values of this Organization. 108.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“At this juncture, I wish to thank, on behalf of my Government, the various Member States of this Organization and of the Organization of African Unity, and in particular, His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I, and the other distinguished Heads of State — members of the Consultative Committee on Nigeria of the Organization of African Unity — who, faithful to the high principles and purposes of both Organizations, have shown so much understanding and sympathy for the cause of Nigeria.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“In fact, as of now, and even when the conflict was at its height, the Federal troops carry not only their rations but vital relief supplies for the civilian victims as they fight on against the rebel elements. The International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF and a number of other charitable organizations have been rendering a most signal service in this respect. I salute them all on behalf of my Government. 106.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We have therefore begun to tum our attention to the more important task of rebuilding the human and material bridges that have been broken and to the reconstruction of our national life in fuller dignity and freedom. We are sparing no efforts or resources in doing this. Urgent relief supplies of food, medicine and clothing to those in need is the immediate and overriding preoccupation of my Government. We have prepared plans, which are now being implemented, and have made substantial budgetary provisions’ for the relief and rehabilitation work in the war-affected areas. A National Rehabilitation Commission, headed by a Commissioner of Cabinet rank, has been established to supervise and implement the relief and rehabilitation programme for the victims of the conflict.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The impartial reports of the team of international observers, comprising representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity, Canada, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, who are at present visiting the war-affected areas of Nigeria at my Government’s invitation, have revealed quite categorically how false and mischievous have been some of the reports on the situation in my country. The reports of these eminent observers have revealed the true nature and circumstances of the conflict and how spurious and malicious have been some of the references made to the events in my country by some of the speakers before this Assembly. 105. The task of crushing the rebellion in my country is now almost completed.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)