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

“As the rebel leader retires into a concrete bunker, reminiscent of another false hero, it is a relief that the world has begun to realize that the internal conflict in my country concerns the concept and acceptance of the fact of national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all African States. Were we to permit secession and armed insurgence based on tribal states, Africa, so much in need of union and unity, would again be fragmented into thousands of tribal principalities; Africa, again weakened and uncertain of itself, would be recolonized and more intensively exploited by foreign Powers. 104.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Never before in history has a rebellious faction in a sovereign State been accorded diplomatic recognition for so-called humanitarian reasons. Never before have otherwise reputable relief organizations chosen to act and speak without regard to accepted norms and their constitutive laws. Never before have honest and reasonable men been so much beguiled by contrived pictures and stories of death and starvation used as blackmail to sustain and support an armed rebellion and war against a fatherland. Our recent experience should serve as an object lesson to all the small and militarily and economically weak countries of the world. 103.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The concern and compassion for the human sufferings arising from our internal conflict that have manifested themselves have therefore sprung from reasons of diverse interests and motives of uneven quality — frequently tendentious, subjective, irrational, and at times based on reasons of pure financial consideration. The impression is given that the causes of our internal conflict no longer matter and that the survival of a nation no longer counts. The impression is also given that the conflict is merely to inflict death and starvation on innocent women and children. Hiding, therefore, behind the cloak of humanitarianism, a curious combination of neo-colonialist, political, economic, religious and ideological interests is today assailing our national sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity. 102.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Similarly, my Government expects that the Government of any Member State would do the same if any province of such State were to proceed to secede from it in armed rebellion. 101. Over the last fifteen months, my Government has watched with increasing horror and dismay how the facts and events of our national life have been reported and frequently distorted by certain sections of the world press. Many of these reports are based on hearsay and several others on the work of public relations firms who have been hired by the rebels in my country to promote their secessionist cause. Through their skilful and clever propaganda, emotions of otherwise well-meaning friends have been aroused and manipulated at will.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Thus truth is sacrificed for the sake of sensation and selfish interests. Thus in an age of anonymity, heroes and knaves are suddenly created and causes espoused, regardless of their origin, relevance and consequences. 100. It does not require any effort of imagination to recognize the fact that Nigeria is a sovereign entity which attained political independence on 1 October 1960 and was admitted to membership of this Organization as a Member state on 9 October 1960 as a corporate and indivisible country. When, therefore, a group of its citizens, motivated by narrow selfish interests and supported by foreign economic and neo-colonialist interests, resorted to armed rebellion and declared war on their fatherland, it was the duty and responsibility of the Government of Nigeria to quell that rebellion.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“In this our ever-shrinking world—thanks to modern techniques of media of mass communication — tragedies and incidents, otherwise personal and national, soon assume international dimensions as they are brought to countless homes and hearths in far-away lands. This could be a healthy development, if it would promote the idea of common humanity and universal brotherhood. But too often the press, radio and television of the world have tended to dramatize in raw fashion incidents and situations out of their historical contexts, perspectives and proportions. Human joys and achievements do not make news. Remarkable records of personal and national successes are conveniently forgotten. But tensions and divisions are fanned and played up, more often than not, to serve external socio-political interests.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Our highly distinguished and respected Secretary-General, His Excellency U Thant, in the sensitive but dispassionate introduction to his annual report, concluded that we are confronted with a situation today which calls for a renewal of “our efforts to promote the cause of international understanding and rededicate ourselves to the principles of international order and morality set out in the Charter” [A/7201/Add.1, para. 205]. The Nigerian delegation fervently shares his conviction, It is in this spirit of rededication and renewed commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter that my delegation will face the work of this session. 99.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“I wish, at the same time, to place on record the deep appreciation and gratitude of my delegation for the services so ably rendered to the international community by His Excellency Corneliu Manescu, the Foreign Minister of Romania, as the President of the General Assembly at its twenty-second session. My delegation fondly recalls the sense of relief from past intolerance and the high hopes for a newly-born broadmindedness which were signalled by his election as the first representative of a socialist country to the high office of President of the General Assembly. In a year of difficult international developments, Mr. Manescu performed his functions and discharged his responsibilities in a manner which contributed significantly to sustain and encourage our sense of hope and confidence in the United Nations Organization. 98.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“96. I wish, on behalf of my delegation, to offer to the President warm and sincere felicitations on his election to preside over this session of the General Assembly. His qualities of statesmanship, his intellectual strength, his varied experience, his humane cultural endowment as well as his unfailing charm, are well known and recognized by all who have followed his remarkable career. My delegation is confident that he will continue to guide the affairs of this Assembly in the highest traditions of Latin American diplomacy, which he represents with such impressive distinction. I gladly assure him of our hearty co-operation. 97.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The Nigerian delegation wishes to thank those who have taken the initiative to request the Assembly to consider how we might control and utilize underwater resources for the benefit of the world as a whole. They can count upon our whole-hearted support. 154. Before concluding, we should like to state for the record that Nigeria continues to believe that, in the long-term interest of all the world, steps should be taken to enable the People’s Republic of China to take its rightful place in the United Nations. 155. This session opened under very ominous clouds. It has on its agenda a number of items which will provoke quite controversial discussion. There are those who, therefore, have already written it off as an abortive session. We must do our best to prove them wrong. The Nigerian delegation will heartily co-operate to that end.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“That recommendation is that the Special Committee should remain seized of this item, with the implication that the Assembly should refrain from any attempt to rush through any decision at this session that could prejudice the further work of the Special Committee [see resolution 2249 (S-V)]. 152. There is, however, in our view, at least one step that the Assembly can take at this session that would not prejudice the Committee's work but would be a great help to the United Nations. This Assembly can and should renew its appeal to those countries that have not yet done so to pay up their voluntary contributions in accordance with the consensus decision of the nineteenth session of 1965. Nigeria made its own payment as long ago as October 1965. 153.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“One or two that we now face — and we all know which of our current crises are here indicated — are of such magnitude that until they have been at least reduced to manageable proportions no real headway can be made in devising a peace-keeping plan for the future that will command the general, not to say unanimous, support of this Assembly. 151. In the circumstances, while one can understand the impatience of those who would like to see quick results in this area, it seems clear that harm rather than good is likely to result from forcing the issue at this time, and the Assembly would, in our view, be wise to give serious consideration to the recommendation of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations, which has as its Chairman one of the ablest diplomats at the United Nations.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The Nigerian delegation shares, the feeling of regret, to which several other delegations have already given expression, at the failure of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations to make any real advance towards finding a solution to the problem of peace-keeping. On the other hand, being a member of that Committee and having served on its predecessor, which was charged with the same difficult assignment, Nigeria is only too well aware of the many impediments to progress in this case. Notable among them is the present international climate. 150. This does not mean that we should hold our hand until all the dark clouds on the horizon disappear. Some of them have been there for quite a while, some will remain for quite a while yet, and fresh ones will certainly spring into view from time to time. But there are clouds and clouds.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Since we of the developing countries are not anxious to continue being eternal recipients of foreign aid, since we know by experience that in many cases the aid given is more than offset by unfavourable terms of trade, since we are anxious to be on our own feet, economically, as soon as possible, paying our way on normal international commercial terms, we attach a great deal of importance to UNCTAD and to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and we hope that the developed countries will give these bodies a warmer and more practical support than they have done hitherto. 149.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Through its Economic and Social Council, via its United Nations Development Programme, and in association with the specialized agencies, it has accomplished a great deal for the world, especially the underdeveloped world. The creation of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) added fresh impetus to the movement for economic co-operation on a truly global scale; but, as the Secretary-General has pointed out, the practical achievements of that institution have been rather disappointing. We hope that at its second session in New Delhi next year, UNCTAD will address itself to a programme aiming at the production of more concrete results. 148.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“To emphasize its contempt of the United Nations, South Africa has gone ahead to integrate South West Africa into itself; it has gone ahead to export more and more into that Territory those policies of apartheid and "Bantustanism” which this Organization has unequivocally condemned; and it is now conducting a mock trial of thirty South West African nationalists whose only crime is that they support the decision of our Organization. How much longer is the United Nations going to tolerate this state of affairs? We hope that it is not for long. 147. The record of the United Nations in the economic field is, without doubt, more impressive than its political record.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“At its fifth special session last May this august Organization again adopted by an overwhelming majority resolution 2248 (S-V), calling on South Africa to turn over the administration of South West Africa to a duly constituted United Nations Council for South West Africa. 146. Drawing courage from those who, when it suits their convenience and interests, say that the United Nations resolutions only raise false hopes, South Africa has persisted in ignoring these important and historic resolutions in respect of South West Africa.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“To those who do not care to deceive themselves it has been obvious for a long time that the longer this Organization shies away from its responsibilities and obligations, the bolder the South African Government becomes in defying world opinion and all the norms of civilized behaviour. 145. The world-wide grave concern over the explosive situation in South West Africa was evidenced by resolution 2145 (XXI), adopted almost unanimously last October, by which the General Assembly terminated South Africa’s Mandate over the Territory and declared that South Africa had no other right to administer it and that thenceforth South West Africa had come under the direct responsibility of the United Nations.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“It remains to be seen whether Great Britain will accept this challenge to its authority; whether it will take this defiance of its constitutional rights lying down; whether it will merely allow matters to rest with its verbal protest to the Government of South Africa. It also remains to be seen whether the United Nations will rise to this occasion and call upon South Africa to stop this nefarious violation of international law and of the resolutions of the competent organs of the United Nations. The United Nations must accept responsibility for the continued obstinacy of the Government of South Africa.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“They have never hidden the fact that they would give Southern Rhodesia their full support in its open rebellion. They have been doing so all the time, although certain countries have either refused to acknowledge this or have connived at it. The Government of South Africa not only now gives that support quite overtly by sending its armed forces into Southern Rhodesia to help murder Africans in their own country — to help murder Africans who want nothing Vat what our Charter and the resolutions of this august Organization have decreed for all mankind; it also now declares that it is doing so and that it will continue to do so, whatever anybody may say or do, whatever Great Britain, the country still juridically responsible for the maintenance of law and order and good government in Southern Rhodesia, may say. 144.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“When in the past we said this, we were told that we were wrong. We were told for instance that we should, while applying sanctions against Southern Rhodesia, be careful not to cause offence to South Africa. We were told that kowtowing to South Africa would enable us to deal more successfully with the Rhodesian situation which has been declared by the Security Council to be a threat to world peace and security. What has been the result? Recent events have proved this advice of timid action to be mistaken, as they have other optimistic prognostications regarding the removal of the illegal regime of Ian Smith. As everyone knows, the South African Whites recognize that they share a common interest with Southern Rhodesia, namely, the perpetuation of white racist minority rule in southern Africa.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The Portuguese Government is unrepentant with regard to its colonial hold upon Angola, Guinea and Mozambique. In fact, in pursuit of its evil intentions in Africa, it has permitted the African territories under its domination to become the spring-board for mercenaries and war materials to undermine the legitimate Governments of a number of independent African countries. Ian Smith in Southern Rhodesia is more intransigent than ever; more bellicose and more ruthless in suppressing the human rights of the African majority of Zimbabwe. Dr. Vorster continues with undiminished ferocity his racist policies in South Africa. Thus we see Dr. Vorster, Ian Smith and the Portuguese Government constituting an unholy triumvirate which has no regard for human decency and the provisions of the Charter of our Organization. 143.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Our appeal to North Viet-Nam and the National Front for the Liberation of (South Viet-Nam is not to let down the Secretary-General and the rest of us in the event of cessation of bombing by the United States. They should co-operate in such a way that negotiations can start as expeditiously as possible. In this connexion my delegation welcomes Ambassador Goldberg's reaffirmation in clear terms [1562nd meeting] of his country's acceptance of the principles of the Geneva Agreements, which we believe must form the basis of any meaningful talks. 142. The situation in southern Africa gets progressively worse. That is of course the consequence of the half-hearted nature of the handling of African decolonization issues by the United Nations.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Instead, the battle of words has gone on, with unabated fury, outside of and within this forum. It has not helped to achieve the aim of all of us, which is to stop the fighting and get on to the conference table. The Nigerian delegation solemnly appeals to the principal parties to help make this possible. To the United States, which states that it will stop the bombing of North Viet-Nam if it is satisfied that North Viet-Nam will in that event be prepared to enter into meaningful talks, our appeal is that it should accept as satisfactory for this purpose the repeated statements of our Secretary-General and others to that effect. In circumstances of the present kind, it only makes negotiations difficult to require direct evidence from the other party.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“There are other significant omissions in the non-proliferation drafts of the Soviet Union and the United States to which we shall call attention when the relevant item is taken up in the First Committee, unless by that time a re-draft has emerged which remedies the gaps, Nigeria has pointed out before and wishes to stress again that a non-proliferation treaty that does not do justice to the legitimate claims of the non-nuclear countries will not last very long or enjoy a broad enough acceptance for the attainment of its purpose. 141. Last year from this podium the Nigerian delegation, with the muted voice of a small country, suggested that the best instrument for tackling the Viet-Nam question was "quiet and confidential diplomacy” [1423rd meeting, para. 203].”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“We are happy to note that one of the super-Powers has declared its readiness to sign a convention containing this undertaking. We hope that the other super-Power will follow its example, in which case a suitable provision for the undertaking can be entered in the non-proliferation draft. 139. The Nigerian delegation continues to feel that it cannot be fair to ask non-nuclear countries to sign away the right to conduct nuclear explosions for peaceful technological purposes unless the conduct of such explosions can be taken away from individual nuclear Powers and entrusted to an international agency. Otherwise, the proper course would seem to be to leave every country the right of peaceful exploitation of nuclear science but to provide safeguards, including inspection, against its abuse for military purposes. 140.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“But our joy is sadly tempered by the feeling that the harmonization seems to have been achieved partly at the expense of the non-nuclear Powers since, significantly, both of the drafts put forward by these Super-Powers ignore completely the claim by the non-nuclear Powers of a quid pro quo for their renunciation of the right to nuclear acquisition or manufacture. As Nigerian spokesmen in the Eighteen- Nation Committee on Disarmament and at previous sessions of the General Assembly have stated time and again, the least that the non-nuclear States can demand is an undertaking, written into the nonproliferation treaty, that a nuclear Power shall not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear signatory.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Incidentally, we are favourably disposed towards the Secretary-General’s suggestion that he should be authorized to designate a special representative who would serve inter alia as a reporter and interpreter of events in the area [ibid., para. 48]. 138. The Nigerian delegation rejoices with those who rejoice that the United States and the Soviet Union have been able to harmonize their views regarding certain provisions to be included in the proposed treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The gap in thinking is narrower today than it was at the start of that session. It is now generally agreed that no country should be allowed to achieve territorial gains by military conquest. It is also agreed that we must help create a political climate in the Middle East in which all the inhabitants in that area of the world will live hereafter in reasonable peace and security. How to achieve those ends so as to satisfy both our conscience and the requisite majority of the Member States of the United Nations is the unfinished task to which we are going to devote more energy this session, and a task to which Nigeria stands ready as usual to make its contribution both in the Assembly and in the Security Council.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Nigeria has deplored the tendency to deal with the Middle East question on the basis of incidents occurring in alleged violation of the General Armistice Agreements; it has deplored the tendency to deal with the Arab refugees on the basis of grants which do little more than enable them and their children to eke out a living in camps all their lives; it has deplored the tendency to think that time will, as it were, help remove the Arab-Israeli dispute from the agenda of the Organization. These illusions have now been shattered, and shattered at a heavy price; a short but bitter war resulting in tens of thousands more refugees and a more complex political conundrum than we faced in the Middle East, say, a year ago. 137. A long and arduous special session failed to find an agreed solution, but it was none the less a useful session.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The ugliest international crisis since the twenty-first regular session has been, of course, the Middle East war. Nigeria has for some time been closely involved in endeavours to tackle the Arab-Israeli dispute. As a member of the Security Council it has raised its voice continuously against the tendency to regard first the 1949 and later the 1957 armistice as permanent features of Middle East life, instead of transitional arrangements pending a final settlement.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“If the Foreign Ministers or other specially designated representatives who attend special Security Council meetings come there to advocate inflexible positions on behalf of their Governments, the Secretary-General's hope of a breakthrough will be frustrated and the game will not have been worth the candle. 135. The Secretary-General has called the Assembly's attention to the situation created by what he calls micro-States [ibid., paras, 161-166] and some other people call mini-States. The Nigerian delegation shares his view that this is a matter that needs inquiring into. Pending such an inquiry, we find the Secretary-General’s specific proposals interesting and deserving of consideration but we should like to reserve our opinion on their practicability. 136.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The Secretary-General’s hope is that representation at a higher than ambassadorial level would enable the Council to discuss broader issues, achieve a greater meeting of minds and foster a consensus approach to matters [ibid., paras. 157-159]. Nigeria, as a current member of the Council, supports the Secretary-General’s proposal in principle and will co-operate in implementing it if the Council as a whole is agreeable. At the same time, we wish to make the comment that the crux of the problem of decision-making in the Security Council is inflexibility of positions taken by individual representatives on the instructions of their respective Governments.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Our esteemed Secretary-General, in his report to the Assembly [A/6701], and particularly in the introduction to his report [A/670l/Add.1], has given us a message on the state of the United Nations that contains a dispassionate, objective and competent analysis of world events in the last twelve months. The Nigerian delegation is grateful to him for this and other services. It will gladly join in giving his recommendations the careful consideration that they obviously deserve at the hands of the Assembly. 134. One of those recommendations is the holding of special Security Council meetings as provided for in Article 28, paragraph 2, of the United Nations Charter; that is to say meetings at which any member, if it so desires, may be represented by a member of the Government or some other specially designated representative.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Abdul Rahman Pazhwak, the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan. The spokesman for Nigeria in last year's general debate described Mr. Pazhwak [1423rd meeting] as one whose occupancy of the presidential chair would be a great credit to his own country and enhance Afro-Asian standing and reputation in the United Nations. Mr. Pazhwak, by the accident of events, was called upon to convene more sessions than any other President in the last few years. He was called upon to help tackle very explosive world crises. He was called upon to deal with an unusual crop of delicate issues and delicate situations. It is a measure of the quality of this man that at the end of such an exacting presidency, he succeeded in retaining the confidence of us all and gaining our whole-hearted applause. 133.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The manner in which you are discharging the duties of this high office confirms the wisdom of those, including Nigeria, who felt that it was time the ice was broken and that it should be broken with your election. We offer you our heartiest congratulations and we gladly assure you of our complete co-operation throughout your tenure of office. 131. We should like at the same time to congratulate all those who have had the honour of being elected to constitute, along with you, the General Committee of the Assembly; that is to say, our seventeen Vice-Presidents and the Chairmen off the seven Main Committees of the Assembly. 132. It gives us particular pleasure to place on record the Nigerian delegation’s appreciation of the services rendered as Assembly President during the last year by Mr.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“130. Mr. President, the Nigerian delegation cordially associates itself with the warm sentiments that have been expressed by previous contributors to the general debate in regard to your election as President of the General Assembly at its twenty-second session. In our view, as in that of many other delegations here, the fact that this is the first time that the General Assembly has elected the representative of a socialist country to the Presidency reflects two facets of the United Nations itself. It reflects past intolerance and present broadmindedness. That you and your country should be the happy instruments of removing what was a blot upon the sense of impartiality of our Organization is something of which you can justly be proud.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)