By Owei Lakemfa
It was a multinational gathering which included 41 embassies. It was a trans-generational assembly which comprised diplomats of the 1960s and 70s, activists of the 1980s and current students, mostly from Bingham University, Keffi. Also in the assembly were government officials, labour leaders, writers and academics. The gathering on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at the Rotunda Hall of the Foreign Ministry, Abuja was organised by the foreign relations think tank, the Society for International Relations Awareness, SIRA. The theme was: “Africa In The Turbulence of A World In Search of Direction.”
As SIRA President, I welcomed the assembly with the assertion that the slaughter in the Middle East, the war of attrition in Ukraine, the carnage in Syria, the barbaric conflict in Yemen, the blind war in Sudan, the unending battles in Somalia and other such conflicts, diminish humanity. I reminded them that we are confronted with a world in which the richest 10 per cent own 52 per cent of all income, while the poorest 52 per cent get just 8.5 per cent. These realities and climate change, I argued, endanger all humanity.
Professor Al-Hassan Conteh, the Ambassador of Liberia and Deputy Dean of
the Diplomatic Corps, spoke on behalf of the Corps. He talked about
“insurgencies and armed conflicts which have caused wanton global conflicts,
including insurgencies, civil wars and inter-state confrontations resulting in
excruciating displacements and complex humanitarian emergencies”. He lamented
that: “Hundreds of millions of people currently live in protracted displacement
due to these wars and environmental disasters. Additionally, terrorism and
climate change have caused short- and long-term dislocations.” By way of a
solution, the deputy dean posited: “As the history of global, regional, and
national conflicts have taught us, diplomacy is the ultimate force that is more
powerful than conflict in achieving peace and security.”
The chairperson of the occasion,
Ambassador Brownson Dede, former Organisation of Africa Unity, OAU, Assistant
Secretary General, Political Affairs and past Nigerian Ambassador to Ethiopia
and Eritrea said humanity is faced with a dilemma. He said the on-going
conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are indications that the world is in
turbulence. Ambassador Dede asked rhetorically: “Can we as a country float
without direction in the high seas, with no compass?” In emphasising that
Nigeria cannot, he argued that foreign policy is too serious a business to be
left to diplomats alone, hence the need for organisations like SIRA. He,
however, advised against flooding our embassies with political appointees
rather than allow career diplomats with professional expertise and knowledge to
run them.
The distinguished guest of
honour, Ambassador John Kayode Shinkaiye who was Chief of Staff to two African
Union Chairmen: President Omar Konare and Jean Ping and at various times,
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Equitorial Guinea, Ethiopia and Djibouti said the world
is marked by unprecedented change and uncertainty. He observed that: “Africa’s
diversity is one of its greatest strengths but paradoxically, that diversity creates
challenges in achieving unity and common purpose.”
He said in pursuit of direction,
Africa should not just focus on external factors but also on internal dynamics,
adding that: “Inclusivity, justice, and the empowerment of all segments of
society, are essential components of a thriving Africa.” Ambassador Shinkaiye,
who is also the President of the Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of
Nigeria, ARCAN, advised that: “As the world seeks direction, Africa can also
lead in shaping global discourse. It has valuable insights into sustainable
development, and in conflict resolution that can influence international
policies and cooperation.”
The lecturer at the occasion was
Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, past Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and
currently, Visiting Professor, School of Global Affairs, King’s College,
London. In taking the assembly through human history, his thesis is that: “It
is the process of the gradual decomposition of the post-1945 multilateral
system and the Pax Americana that underpinned it that is at the heart of the
current turbulence which we are witnessing in the international system.” The
collapse of the Eastern Bloc, he said, had led to a false “triumphalist
narrative” that the West had defeated the East. Russia, he said, might have
weakened but it was just a matter of time before it repositioned itself as a
major force.
While this was on, he said
countries like China, India, Turkey and Brazil, arose “to challenge and
successfully erode the economic dominance of the United States.” Fayemi argued
that the emergent multi-polarity “speaks to a global reordering in which the old
is dying simultaneously as the new is struggling to be born. It is a tense and
delicate transitional moment in human history that is packed with doubt and
fear as old certitudes are dissolved, new pecking orders are emerging, and
existing global governance institutions are straining at the seams.”
He said there are suggestions
that humanity might be edging towards a Third World War with climate change,
terrorism, banditry and “the volatile cocktail of poverty (and) inequality”
complicating matters. Fayemi, who was a former Minister of Solid Minerals,
said: “For us in Africa, one clear opportunity is the chance to win ample
autonomous space within which to advance our ambitions of structural
transformation and, in doing so, take a role as a co-rule maker as the new
global order gets fashioned out.” The continent, he said, must avoid being
reduced yet again “to the site for a new scramble among the competing powers…”
Discussant, Benson Upah,
lawyer, Labour leader and leadership expert, concurred that the world may well
be knocking at the gates of a Third World War. He said there is no charity in
international politics and that Africa has to be self-sufficient even if it has
to steal buy or technology. The Commandant of the National Defence College,
Rear Admiral Olumuyiwa Morakinyo Olotu, said Nigeria has the population and
resources necessary for the development but the challenge is how to annex them.
He said that countries with military might, also need economic power to
succeed. Olotu suggested that beyond diversifying the economy, the primary
challenge should be to build Nigeria into an economic power.
The Director General of the Michael Imoudu National Institute of Labour
Studies, MINILS, Issa Aremu, said the main challenge of Africa in the unfolding
global challenges is how to turn it into an advantage as it did turn the
post-Second World War into a force of change leading to independence. A retired
Director in the Public Service, Aminu Ahmed Yusuf, said Africa cannot afford to
look “Neither East nor West” because the former colonial masters would not
allow it. He suggested the continent be principled by defining its interests
and pursuing them. Whatever the case, it is clear the human race faces mainly
self-inflicted crises which require collective solutions.
*Lakemfa is a commentator on public
issues
No comments:
Post a Comment