Boko Haram, Nigeria’s UN Mission And Matters Arising -By Ibrahim Salisu

Nigeria has inded missed several opportunities to get global attention to some teething issues bedeviling her corporate existence. Whereas the federal government delegation to the United Nations General Assembly claimed that the country was neither informed nor invited to the meeting where Nigeria’s neighbours and key humanitarian agencies brainstormed on how to tackle the refugee crisis caused by the Boko Haram conflict, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said that Nigeria was officially informed and properly invited to the high-level discourse.

It is unfortunate that Nigeria, the epicenter of the Boko Haram insurgency, has by her action of not being represented at the meeting organised by UN Under-Secretary-General, Stephen O’Brien, incurred the wrath of the United States of America and European Union diplomats. This might also adversely affect the financial largesse and other forms of assistance, especially those targeted at ending the Boko Haram insurgency these countries promised Nigeria.

Those who condemned Nigeria’s absence at the UN meeting blamed it on the failure of President Buhari to appoint his cabinet ministers. They argue that a competent minister of foreign affairs would have ensured that the country was represented at the meeting where such an important issue was discussed.

In his explanation, the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, insisted the presidency did not get an invite to attend the meeting. “There is no record of any invitation to the Nigerian Mission as confirmed by the permanent representative, Prof Joy Ogwu,” he said. But a spokesperson for United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jens Laerke, who is based in Geneva, told reporters that not only was the office of the permanent representative of the Nigerian Mission to the United Nations officially informed and invited for the event, an invitation was in fact sent to the office of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, prior to the departure of the Nigerian delegation to the UNGA.

“I’m almost 100 per cent sure that Nigeria was invited. One of the reasons was that I read the original speech by O’Brien in which he acknowledged the presence of the Nigerian government,” he said.

Mr Laerke, however, asked to be allowed to double-check with his colleague in New York, who was in charge of inviting participants for the meeting. He called back four hours later after checking with his organisation’s New York office.

“I’ve just been in contact with my colleague in New York and we can assure you that the government of Nigeria was invited to the event and my colleagues in New York did what they could to ensure that they were provided with the invitation,” he said.

When asked which organ of the Nigerian government the invite was sent to, Mr Laerke responded: “Actually, the government was invited both by direct communication to the vice president and then subsequently through the permanent representation in New York.“My colleague told me he actually went there personally to hand over the invitation to make sure they receive the invitation. We really made an effort to make sure the government was aware of the invitation because we really want them to come.”

The question then arises as why President Buhari refused to put in place his cabinet ministers four months into his four-year tenure. The formation of a cabinet would simply have meant that meetings would have to be conveyed and decisions would have to be reached on very key issues of national importance.

The implication is that some of Buhari’s wishes might meet brick walls before ministers who might knock him out with superior arguments and proposals. He understands how scandalous things can get, if one or two ministers or more decide to resign because of high-handedness and incapability to succumb to superior proposals or submissions.

Probably to keep his September deadline for appointing ministers and pacify Nigerians, Buhari named himself Petroleum Resources minister on September 29, the eve of the expiration of his deadline. It bears emphasis that Nigeria cannot afford to continue to do business as usual. If this is the change the APC government can offer, then Nigeria can do better without it.

– Barr. Salisu sent in this piece from Abuja