In the end, Nigeria landed with a big thud. Not only did Yar’Adua fail to show up to address the United Nations General Assembly in person, the five and a half-page address read on his behalf by Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe was five and a half pages short of the truth and self-respect.
Sandwiched in the speaking order between Afghanistan and Honduras, Mr. Maduekwe appeared uncomfortable, hurried and unprepared.
His statement had all the shopping-list hallmarks of a man that had nothing to say. He struggled to say something about everything, and his effort had no focus. His performance lacked coherence, continuity and conviction.
In the 22 minute address, Yar’Adua called on the President of the Assembly a grand total of 15 times, as if he knew how boring he sounded. Barak Obama of the United States, in contrast, called on the President only once, at the beginning of his statement. And Obama spoke for 38 minutes!
Following the failure of Yar’Adua to show up in New York, Nigeria’s original speaking slot on the 24th of September was invalidated, and Maduekwe eventually accepted the last position yesterday. Realizing that such a location in the order meant there would hardly be any diplomats in the hall to hear him, the Foreign Minister had all of Nigeria’s diplomatic and consular staff in Washington and New York sent to the General Assembly Hall to give UN television cameras a background audience to aim at.
Yar’Adua’s statement was so embarrassing that he failed to recognize several ironies. Among them:
• He referred to the important “need for global efforts to boost food security.” But the United Nations held a High Level Summit on Food Security two days earlier, and Yar’Adua did not think it was important enough to attend.
• He said that “a convergence of many factors, including the global economic crisis, is threatening not only the actualization of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals, but also of the substantial gains already made.” But not only did Yar’Adua not identify the “substantial gains” Nigeria has already made in the implementation of the MDGs, he forgot he has already said that Nigeria would not be able to implement them.
• “Unless we act fast, our dream of lifting the vast majority of humanity out of extreme poverty, hunger and disease would remain an illusion,” Yar’Adua said. This pompous generalization is an abdication of responsibility: it is his job, not that of the United Nations, to “act fast.” But Yar’Adua cannot act, let alone act fast, if he cannot even show enough interest to come to the United Nations and talk to other world leaders about how they can help him meet Nigeria’s MDG targets.
• He spoke of the anti-malaria question in terms of the 2000 Abuja Heads of State Summit, conveniently and fraudulently ignoring the setting up of the high-level African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) on 23 September at the UN. Yes, African leaders have moved on.
• Yar’Adua also said: “Nigeria continues to make giant strides in our effort to build a peaceful, stable and prosperous nation, able to provide the best possible life for its citizens and able to fulfill its international commitments and obligations. He did not say what these “giant strides” are, Nigerian are still looking for drinking water, electricity, and freedom from robbers—armed and unarmed.
• He claimed: “We have made great progress in laying a solid foundation for democracy, and we are seeking to build on this foundation to grow an economy that will see Nigeria take its rightful place among the world's economic powerhouses.” He did not say what this “great progress” is, and it is unlikely any Nigerian citizen knows. Yar’Adua has refused to accept the best recommendations of his own Electoral Reform panel, and only recently, his People’s Democratic Party shamelessly rigged the re-run Ekiti elections.
Yar’Adua’s address contained no original or creative thought or conviction, consistent argument or redeeming sentence. At no point did he speak with any specificity or persuasion, at no point did he exude confidence in the actions or achievements of his government. Where many other speakers were making profound proposals or where they were speaking with pride about their achievements in their countries, Yar’Adua only called out, “Mr. President.” In almost every paragraph, he was conveniently asking for the developed countries or the international community or the United Nations to do one thing or the other. Examples [from the first two pages only]:
• “There is no doubt that the international community needs, more than ever before, to fulfill its commitments to the developing world if more than half of humanity is to avoid an imminent calamity.” [Paragraph 3]
• “It is our hope that these recommendations will receive the unconditional support of the developed nations.” [Paragraph 4].
• It is pertinent to reiterate our call for the removal of the huge agricultural subsidies that the developed countries continue to give to their farmers…” [Paragraph 5]
• “On our part, we are determined to do all we can in order to attain the MDG targets, and we are calling on the international community to continue to provide support.” [Paragraph 6]
• We would therefore appreciate the support of the Secretary-General not only to make the proposed Summit possible, but also to facilitate the realization of its objective. [Paragraph 7]
One of the most glaring examples of Yar’Adua’s lack of character is in the Climate Change comment. Here it is in full:
“The quality of participation at the just-ended Special Session on Climate Change
is a testimony to the global realization that Climate Change poses a real existential
threat to humanity. I commend the Secretary General for his consistent engagement
with the issue of climate change, and call on all Member States to re-dedicate
themselves to reversing the worst effects of this phenomenon. For us in Africa, as the continent that hosts 15 of the world's 20 countries that are most vulnerable to the impact of Climate Change, we hope that the outcome of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change coming up in Copenhagen later this year will be an acceptable response to this global threat.”
That High-Level Summit on Climate Change was held last week. Yar’Adua did not think it sufficiently important to attend because of its important to those 15 African countries, motivated by the need to influence and energize the deliberations ahead of Copenhagen. One week later, however, he wanted to “commend the Secretary General.” This is the height of irresponsibility and lip service.
Throughout the address, it was curious that apart from the Niger Delta, about which he was as vague as ever, Yar’Adua did not breathe one word about the issues Nigerians and the world want to hear him speak about: the state of the battle against corruption, if any; democratic reforms, economic issues; national quality of life; the rule of law; 419, progress in the implementation of the MDGs; Nigeria’s use of the Abacha funds, and the image-laundering scam called so-called Rebrand Nigeria.
By avoiding these issues on Monday night and sticking to safe turf, Yar’Adua confirmed his disinterest, lack of capacity, and lack of achievement. Combined with his personal absence, he was in effect making a case for not being taken seriously and his nation not being desirous of help. Instead of saying: “We are determined to achieve this and have done this much with or without external assistance,” all that could be heard out of him was either such vagueness as “the substantial gains already made,” or general whimpering about what the international community should do.
Having read his principal’s speech, however, Mr. Maduekwe was preparing to leave New York for Washington DC, where he is scheduled to speak to the Brookings Institution on Wednesday on Nigeria-U.S. Partnership for Regional Security in Africa, and the challenges and opportunities for democratic and economic reform and regional stability in his country.
It is to be hoped that the panel discussion that follows will compel the Foreign Minister to part with the truth. His predecessor in that job, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is a Managing Director at the World Bank, is also a Fellow at the Brookings Institution.
But it is another expert on Nigeria and Brookings Fellow, Professor Richard Joseph of Northwestern University in Chicago, who will be joining the panel on Wednesday. Mr. Maduekwe will be making his appearance in Washington DC at a time Nigeria has no ambassador in the country. Professor Tunde Adeniran, who was nominated last April, was this month rejected by the United States. Adeniran and Joseph both taught Political Science at the University of Ibadan in the mid-1970s.
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