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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Spain backs Nigeria's bid for UN Security Council's seat


From Madu Onuorah, Azimazi Momoh Jimoh and Terhemba Daka, Abuja

NIGERIA'S quest for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) received a boost yesterday as Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero expressed support for the Federal Government.

Zapatero, who formally began a state visit to Nigeria, said after bilateral talks with President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua at the Presidential Villa, Abuja that the restructuring of the UNSC was necessary to accommodate the presence of Nigeria in the body to "represent what Nigeria does and the way it has been in the continent."

Also receiving the Spanish Prime Minister in his office yesterday, the President of Senate, David Mark, reiterated that Nigeria occupied a pivotal position in Africa and as such should be given the opportunity to represent the continent on the Security Council.

But to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, when Zapatero paid him a courtesy call yesterday, there is need for more collaboration between Nigeria and Spain in the areas of energy, tourism and gas development.

Zapatero, who is the first leader of Spain to visit Nigeria, said that enhancing the presence of Spanish companies in Nigeria was also on the bill of what he expected from his three-day trip. He arrived on Monday and attended the ECOWAS-Spanish summit held in the evening.

The Spanish Prime Minister told journalists after the bilateral talks that "we have talked about energy and of course, oil and gas. But also, we have talked a great deal about renewable energy. We have talked about the potential that Nigeria has, the future ahead of it - infrastructure, rail infrastructure, water treatment and a potential of enhancing the presence of Spanish companies here in these sectors working along with Nigerian companies.

"And also we have talked about the international order. We have talked about peace. We have talked about security. We have talked about that, from an African perspective and also from a worldwide perspective. Spain, of course, has peacekeeping operations in Africa and in other places. Nigeria, for example, participates as well in UN peacekeeping operations. It is a great contributor.

"This brings me to what the Nigerian President said and I think it is a very important thing. We have talked about security, the reform of the Security Council in the UN. President Yar'Adua said 30 per cent of all the matters that the UN Security Council deals with in its daily work concerns Africa. But nevertheless, no African country is represented on the UN Security Council. That is a reality that has to change. It needs to change. Nigeria plays a role of leadership and Spain will be working for the change in the Security Council and will correct this injustice that does not represent what Nigeria does and the way it has been in the continent."

Stressing that his "is the first trip by a Spanish Prime Minister to Nigeria," Zapatero said this "means something. It means that we have interest to work in West Africa with West Africa in order to develop and to open up areas for us to work together and co-operate in the future."

According to him, "death penalty is a law that must be obeyed. Where the law specifies any punishment for an offence, not only death penalty, then the law must be obeyed. It is a straightforward issue. Those determined and specified as penalties are there and society should be governed by rules of law."

Mark urged the Spanish President to take Nigeria's campaign for a permanent seat at the UN to other European countries, saying: "Besides the human and material resources that abound in Nigeria, our fore-front position in peace-keeping in Africa and beyond ultimately earn us the position."

He called for a mutual co-operation between the Spanish parliament and Nigeria in the exchange of ideas, pointing out that as a younger democracy to Spain, Nigeria was willing to learn from the experience of an older democracy.

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