Gambari stresses need for UN to reform Security Council

Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, has said the time has come for the body to reform its Security Council, not only in terms of use or misuse of veto power but also to expand its membership in both permanent and non-permanent categories.

Gambari stated this at the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Genocide, held at Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.

He said the council should be restructured and democratised to reflect economic, demographic, and political realities to ensure Africa’s full representation.

He said the reform had been on the front burner of discussions on the need to prevent genocide as witnessed against the Tutsi in Rwanda, by teaching Africans not to rely purely on the goodwill of the larger international community to police and resolve conflicts in the continent.

He said: “The genocide in Rwanda had the additional and perhaps unintended consequence of re-awakening governments in Africa to an appreciation of their responsibility to protect civilian populations beyond their territorial borders,” Gambari said.

UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, in a goodwill message, urged everyone to shun hatred and discrimination and stand as one, urging Africa to develop its resources and mechanisms for effective and robust engagements to resolve the problems.

Guterres, represented by the UNIC National Information Officer, Oluseyi Soremekun, added: “We will never forget the victims of this genocide, nor forget the bravery and resilience of those, who survived, and willingness to forgive and hope amidst this dark chapter in human history.”

Rwandan High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr Christophe Bazivamo, said: “The path to lasting peace demands constant vigilance, as we renew our unbreakable pledge to fight intolerance, discrimination, ethnic hatred, hate speech, genocide revisionism.

According to him, this could be achieved in different ways, including teaching lessons about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in schools to educate the young and the next generation on the need to fight hate ideologies and stand against any form of discrimination and divisionism.