UN Dialogue On “Democracy, Human Rights, Development, Climate Change & Countering Violent Extremism” On 24/08/2015

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, REPRESENTED BY PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, TITLED “DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, DEVELOPMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE AND COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM” AT A DIALOGUE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE VISIT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS, BAN KI-MOON, ABUJA, ON THE 24TH OF AUGUST, 2015

Protocols

I welcome you all to this very important dialogue on Democracy, Sustainable Development and Countering Terrorism.  In particular, we are delighted, of course, to have here the United Nations Secretary General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon and his delegation. This dialogue would have been important for us in Nigeria anyway, but it is particularly so in view of some of our recent experiences, which in some senses would assist in moving this discussion along.

First, our democratic success at the March 28th elections, which happily led to a smooth transition from the incumbent administration to the opposition.  Second, and sadly so, we are reminded that the United Nations, its staff and several innocent Nigerians were victims of a suicide bomb on the 26th of August 2011 at the UN building here in Abuja. And this, in some sense, is underpinning some of what we will be talking about today, especially the issues of violent terrorism on violent extremism.

Perhaps the most useful attribute of democracy is inclusiveness, the recognition of the right of every adult to participate in the decision as to how and who will govern him or her and not just who governs or how, but by what principles and on which platform. To what can we hold our leaders to account? Sustainable development assumes that there is a consensus or convergence on relevant principles.

The issue really is that in most developing countries, even in democracies such as ours, ethnicity and religion and such are local considerations that generally seem to trump objective considerations of development in the decision on who to vote for. Consequently, governments once voted in cannot and are not held to account for economic and social policies. After 16 years of civilian rule in Nigeria, the economic fortunes of the majority have severely declined.

We have 110 million extremely poor, and at the bottom of most human development indices. Most cannot and do not interrogate the alternatives offered by protesting parties beyond the narrow prisms of ethnicity, religion and other such parochial considerations.

The disaffected millions, who are largely illiterate and without a real stake in the security of the polity, present a reserve for recruitment into violent extremism. But violent extremism is not entirely a product of socio-economic exclusion; it is also a function of permitting religious and radical ethnocentric teachings and pedagogy without a persuasive counter-narrative. What then can we do to strengthen our democracies and build a transparent and inclusive society?

I think a paradigm shift might be required; bottom-up economic and social planning, budget and planning that is driven by the poverty and unemployment numbers. While markets must be allowed to self-propel, governments must set the safety floor and intervene directly, in some cases, in providing jobs and opportunities. As we do this, I think we must also offer an alternative narrative to the one of extremism and violence.

The fact is that all positions, no matter how extremist, ride upon some modicum of truth, though often perverted, which the poor and the rejected may well find convincing. For instance, where the dissenters hide under the cover of religion is not enough for the mainstream to disown them. We must go further to offer convincing reasons why they are wrong.

Thus, the government must seek progressive allies in such a religion or in such religions to ensure that the radical strain does not grow and predominate. When people can be persuaded to kill themselves for a cause, it is clear that the conviction is deep, even if misguided. A concerted effort is required to dislodge it.

Propaganda is not killed by merely waving our hands or just denouncing it. Rather, we must acknowledge and expose and provide convincing reasons, and in a language that is understandable by the target audience, as false or misleading. On climate change, it is imperative that, in the build-up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November, we should all be mindful of the threat that unmitigated production and consumption patterns pose to our collective well-being and our planet.

Meeting all commitments agreed to in various UN Climate Change Conferences and their outcome documents, as has nationally adopted mitigation and adaptation measures, is critical. In this regard, Nigeria is supportive of the core elements of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, which address climate change and mitigation and adaptation measures,  in particular the provision of necessary funding and access to relevant technologies to assist developing countries and the least developed countries before 2012 are all critical commitments that must be met. The needs of countries in vulnerable situations, such as small island developing states, landlocked developing states and states in the Sahel region, should be addressed within the context of the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development and the various provisions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Before concluding my remarks, I wish to reiterate Nigeria’s appreciation to the United Nations and to you, Mr. Secretary General, for the great accomplishments of the United Nations over the past 70 years. Nigeria will happily join other member states in New York for the landmark event and the adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda in due course.

Your Excellency, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I look forward to learning more from the conversations on these and other related issues this afternoon.

Thank you very much.