Nigeria Backs Two State Solution To Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Nigeria has again expressed its support for a two state solution to end the decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
He said the Palestinians deserve their independence and to have a home of their own on territories already recognised by the United Nations and international law.
President Bola Tinubu, represented by his Vice, Kashim Shettima, restated Nigeria’s stand while addressing world leaders at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.
He said that the UN must take its responsibility of preventing conflict more seriously, instead of the current efforts to normalise it by some countries.
“Conflict prevention is the main reason why the UN exists. But the task of prevention becomes all the more difficult when conflict becomes normalised, when even the condemnation of violence and civilian casualties, and calls for a ceasefire, are somehow regarded as controversial.
“As we emphasised at the Abuja High-Level Ministerial meeting, we must renew our focus on conflict prevention. Indeed, addressing the root causes of conflicts is often the first step towards providing long-term solutions. Clearly, some of the root causes of conflicts are social in nature, including poverty, hunger, ignorance, inequality and exclusion, as well as other forms of injustice.
He decried the involvement of foreign actors in several conflicts, including Sudan, thereby making it difficult to find solutions.
“In Sudan, other parts of our continent and further afield, foreign actors are exacerbating those tensions to prolong conflict and deepen the suffering of innocent people.
“Today, we are all witnesses to the heart-wrenching situation in Gaza and other Palestinian Territories. We cannot discuss war and peace, conflicts and reconciliation or humanitarian imperatives today without reflecting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been raging since 7th October last year.
“Of course, the conflict predates this period and has been simmering for a better part of half a century. What this tells us is that the international community has failed to live up to the spirit and aspirations of the United Nations to rid the world of inequality, violence and domination of one people by another. Justice is antithetical to revenge.
“Freedom is an inalienable right and a natural entitlement that cannot be denied to any people.
“The Palestinian people deserve their independence. They deserve to have a home of their own on territories already recognised by this very Assembly and by international law, which is being routinely ignored.
“Nigeria continues to urge efforts to bring back on track the ‘two state solution’ that offers the prospect for a new beginning for the region,” President Tinubu added.
He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to supporting United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, and in building strong and professional armies to meet the multiple challenges in Africa.
“Consequently, we reiterate the call for international support to operationalise the African Standby Force, in addition to the provision of requisite support and resources to ensure the upgrade, take-off and effectiveness of a Centre of Excellence on issues of counter-terrorism in Africa.”
