Nigeria: Working to restore normalcy in Darfur

Nigeria: Working to restore normalcy in Darfur

Nigeria is taking a more active role in diplomatic efforts to restore normalcy to Darfur, Sudan, where another attack on United Nations (UN) troops was recorded last weekend.

UN sources disclosed that during the meeting at the opening of the current General Assembly in September, both President Goodluck Jonathan and UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, reviewed the situation in Darfur.

Reports said they paid special attention to the seeming wariness of the Sudanese government to cooperate with the African Union(AU) and UN Mission in Darfur, UNAMID, headed by one of Nigeria's top former External Affairs Ministers, Professor Ibrahim Gambari.

UNAMID is the first hybrid mission of the UN, where both the AU and the UN came together to deploy the troops and pick its head, who must enjoy the support of both the UN and the AU.

Worrisome development

But there has been recent concerns that certain elements in the Sudanese government were beginning to undermine the activities of UNAMID, a development that sources said bothered the UN secretariat causing the Secretary-General to table the issue before The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan at their New York bilateral meeting recently.

It was learnt that the issue, which was tabled at the instance of the UN Secretary-General led to the Nigerian Government sending a special envoy to Sudan to encourage the Sudanese government to step-up its cooperation with the UN and respect the calibre of diplomats who are committed to ensuring the complete restoration of peace and normalcy in that troubled region of the country.

The special envoy deployed to deliver the message of President Jonathan last month, was former Nigerian Military Head of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar, who expressed the need for the Sudanese government to tune-up its working relationship and cooperation with UNAMID in the interest of the full restoration of normalcy in Darfur.

While western nations at the UN including the United States, United Kingdom and France had always advanced a more critical approach in the relationship with Sudan over the Darfur crisis, Nigeria had always led the African group at the UN to encourage a middle of the road approach which is also said to be the attitude of the UNAMID AU-UN Joint Special Representative, Professor Gambari.

Attack on peacekeepers in Darfur

The UN Security Council also stressed the need for an end to impunity by those who attack peacekeepers in Darfur after one soldier serving with the joint UN-AU mission was killed and two others injured on Sunday.

The council, which includes Nigeria said: “The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the attack on a UNAMID patrol in Darfur.”

Members of the council called on the government of Sudan "to bring the perpetrators to justice and stressed that there must be an end to impunity by those who attack peacekeepers.”

NP/Adekusibe/Ekata