Nigeria's point of view in the UN SECURITY COUNCIL REFORMATION Essay

Nigeria's point of view in the UN SECURITY COUNCIL REFORMATION - Essay Example The submission of these issues was considered timely following the September 2008 decision (GA) 62/557 to move the issues from Working Groups to the Intergovernmental Negotiations’ (Martini 2). The Nigerian undertaking was in accordance with policies laid down by his Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his Cabinet, and consisted of proposals to increase the elected members to thirty-five, to change the nature of the power of ‘veto’ from being an instrument of ‘individual power’ to a collective and democratic instrument and to subject nuclear powers to accountability within a circle of client states. The meeting was attended by all fifteen members currently sitting, and there was a standing ovation after the conclusion of Mr. Oedin’s speech. Private consultation prior to sitting had also yielded some positive results – there is clearly a ‘climate for change’ among the members. However, when two of the delegations late r approached the Nigerian desk, with the intention of arranging a private meeting in April, it became immediately clear that there was a discrepancy between the intended content of our document and the interpretation by these delegations. Nevertheless, a window of opportunity has opened up for further discussions. Background to Problems The UN Security Council (UNSC) is the enforcement arm of the United Nations and has been in operation since 1945, with initially eleven members of which five were permanent, with individual powers of ‘veto, and six were elected members. In 1965, the latter body was increased to ten, bringing the total number of UNSC members to fifteen. The mandate of the UNSC has remained unchanged during the 55 years of its operation and it is now – as it was then – charged with keeping the Peace. The missions the UNSC carried out under this aim were greatly hampered during the ‘Cold War’1, obscuring systemic problems within the stru cture of the UNSC for over forty years. It is therefore mainly during the past twenty years that these problems have become obvious, through repeated unauthorized military actions by states as well as self-motivated use of veto powers by the permanent five members (Butler 10pp). In addition, the increase in member states of the United Nations between 1947 and 2011, from 50 to 1921 is in no way reflected in the increase in the numbers in the UNSC during the same period. The former nearly quadrupled whereas UNSC membership has only been increased by less than a quarter, making it questionable that member states are now adequately represented. This is particularly true when viewed from a regional perspective, as Latin America, the Middle East and Africa do not currently have a permanent voice through a permanent UNSC member (Jaramillo). Although Nigeria has been able to represent its concerns on three previous occasions3, this does ultimately not amount to permanent representation. Thi s is clearly also a general sentiment among the UN member states, which have often felt that the decisions of the Security Council do not reflect the will of the General Assembly as a whole but rather are often motivated by self-interest (Martini 2). There have been numerous past reform proposals for both the membership numbers and the powers of veto but, despite all efforts so far no solution has emerged that might have success of being debated in the UNSC (quotation needed) Nigerian proposal for reforms tabled at the March Council: His Excellency,