United Nations General Assembly: Buhari begs for cancellation of Nigeria’s debt

The Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari has appealed for outright debt cancellation from rich countries in the world and international financial institutions, in view of the country’s numerous loan requests in the past few years which has been criticized by citizens

Penpushing reports that, Buhari made the appeal on Friday during his speech at the 76th Session of the United Nations ( UN) General Assembly in New York, arguing that number of developing countries have being  faced with unsustainable debt burdens even before the coronavirus pandemic.

The President also emphasized call on G20 countries to extend their debt suspension initiatives to all developing countries, least developed countries and small Island developing states facing fiscal and liquidity challenges.

‘The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of a new wave of deepening debt, where vital public financial resources are allocated to external debt servicing and repayments, at the expense of domestic health and financing for critical developmental needs’, he noted.

‘‘I must commend the current initiatives by the international financial institutions and the G20 aimed at significantly mitigating the economic situation of the indebted countries and urge for more efforts in this regard’,Buhari stated.

‘‘Therefore, there is an urgent need to consider expansion and extension of the debt service suspension initiative to include all developing, least developed countries and small island developing states facing fiscal and liquidity challenges. In addition, a review of the eligibility criteria for debt suspension, including outright cancellation, is needed for countries facing the most severe challenges’, he added’

Penpushing also reports that, Buhari addressing world leaders at the assembly called for reforms of international trade that would engender recovery from the coronavirus crisis, build resilience to future shocks and pursue transformative development strategies that can deliver the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal

‘‘Nigeria reaffirms that international trade is an engine for development and sustained economic growth, as well as the global eradication of poverty. My delegation would like to reaffirm the critical role that a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system can play in stimulating economic growth and development’.

‘‘Fair and equitable trade would eventually eliminate the need for aid. My country and indeed all African countries do not intend to stay indefinitely looking for aid. All we need is a fair and equitable system of international trade,’’ he said

The Nigerian leader took advantage of the meeting to renew his advocacy for equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines, outlining steps Nigeria had taken to achieve moderate success  in containing the virus and halt its deadly onslaught in the country.

‘‘Nigeria remains grateful for the assistance received from our partners and friends all over the world. Vaccination is the key to our safe emergence from the pandemic.We fully support the COVAX initiative from which we have benefitted. We also thank the United States of America, Turkey, India, China, European Union, and others for the vaccines provided’.

‘Despite the acknowledgement, however, I would like to reiterate my call for a fairer and more equitable distribution of vaccines to all countries so that, together, we can fight and contain the pandemic’.

‘The rising wave of newer and more contagious strains makes this even more urgent. No country can afford the socio-economic implications of a prolonged shutdown. It is imperative to underscore that no one is safe until everyone is safe.’’

“At the outset, we recognised detection and contact tracing to be important tools in combating the virus. In this connection, from a mere four laboratories with testing and detection capacities, we ramped up the facilities to over 140 centres today.

‘‘Similarly, we built isolation centres and emergency hospital wards in record time all over the country. We carry out genomic sequencing in designated laboratories across the country with a view to detecting variants in circulation’

‘‘‘In addition, over 40,000 health care workers have recently been trained on Infection, Prevention and Control measures with the support of various partners. Through the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, we have established 16 infectious disease treatment centres located within our Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres”, he said.

Penpushing reports that, Buhari, speaking on terrorism which has pervaded the county, told the meeting that the country security forces had recorded considerable success in the fight against terrorism.

‘‘As a result of the renewed vigour of Nigeria’s military, many terrorist fighters are voluntarily surrendering to our security forces. Nigeria will continue to work closely with the UN Counter-Terrorism bodies and entities with a view to bringing this scourge to an end,’’ he added.

Penpushing further reports, that he pointed out to the assembly that, while terrorism continued to dominate security discourse worldwide, noted that  in Nigeria, Boko Haram terrorists group, though fragmented by internal strife and weakened by  defence forces, is still active and preying on soft targets.

The President boasted that, the country would spare no effort in addressing the challenges of terrorism posed by the activities of Boko Haram in the country and the Lake Chad region, as well as banditry in the North-West and North-Central Nigeria.

‘‘I and three other Nigerian Heads of State served actively as peacekeepers and Nigeria continues to support peacekeeping efforts. We know the sacrifice involved; we also know how important peacekeeping is for those in vulnerable situations. Nigeria will continue to play its part fully in supporting UN peacekeeping operations within Africa and beyond,’’ he said.

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