* Remain vocal in pursuit of justice for Palestinian people: MPAC Nigeria to FG
* MURIC demands immediate withdrawal of the Nigerian Envoy to Israel
Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima on Wednesday reiterated the country’s stand on the age-long Palestine-Israel conflict at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79), saying that the Palestinian people deserve to have a home of their own on territories already recognised by international law.
Speaking on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who failed to address the plight of the Palestinians in his 2023 speech, Vice President Shettima delivered a resounding call for immediate ceasefire and reaffirmed Nigeria’s long-standing support for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for sovereignty and independence.
Shettima’s address, Muslim News gathered, is coming at a critical moment when the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, reignited on 7th October 2023 and has already claimed over 40,000 lives, leaving thousands more wounded, most of them women and children.
#UNGA79: Freedom is an inalienable right and a natural entitlement that cannot be denied to any people. The Palestinian people deserve their independence. They deserve to have a home of their own on territories already recognised.
– SEN. KASHIM SHETTIMA
Nigeria's Vice President pic.twitter.com/ScFEMZlWAn— Muslim News Nigeria (@muslimnews_NG) September 26, 2024
Reading the 2906 words count text before the heads of states and governments at the floor of the #UNGA79, Shettima described the the situation in Gaza and other Palestinian territories as heart-wrenching, saying that the conflict didn’t start on 7th October but more than 50 years ago.
According to him, “Today, we are all witnesses to the heart-wrenching situation in Gaza and other Palestinian territories. We can’t discuss war and peace, conflicts and reconciliation or humanitarian imperatives without reflecting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been raging since 7th October 2023.
“Of course, the conflict predates this period and has been simmering for a better part of half a century. What this tells us is that the international community has failed to live up to the spirit and aspirations of the United Nations to rid the world of inequality, violence and domination of one people by another. Justice is antithetical to revenge.
“Freedom is an inalienable right and a natural entitlement that cannot be denied to any people. The Palestinian people deserve their independence. They deserve to have a home of their own on territories already recognised by this very Assembly and by international law, which is being routinely ignored.”
The Vice President who also addressed other challenges bedeviling the country including global debt burden, added that Nigeria continues to urge efforts to bring back on track the ‘two-state solution’, which offers the prospect of a new beginning for the region.
VIDEO: Palestine deserves independence, Shettima tells world leaders at UNGA#UNGA79 pic.twitter.com/kPZcIJVO8t
— TheCable (@thecableng) September 25, 2024
Shettima’s address has generated corroborative reactions from human rights organisations who said his call for peace and justice is consistent with Nigeria’s long-standing commitment to the values of freedom, human rights, and opposition to oppression in all its forms—values deeply rooted in the country’s shared global history of anti-colonialism and the fight against apartheid.
Read full statement HERE
In his reaction, the Executive Chairman, Muslim Public Affairs Centre, MPAC Nigeria, Disu Kamor, praised VP Shettima for his decisive and principled stance on the Palestinians’ quest for freedom and liberation.
He said, “Before the Assembly of Nations, Vice President Shettima underscored the failure of the international community to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has persisted for decades.
He rightly pointed out that the continued violence and instability are stark reminders of the world’s inability to fulfill the founding ideals of the United Nations—ideals aimed at promoting equality, justice, and the right of all people to live free from oppression.
Disu urged the Nigerian government to remain vocal and active in the pursuit of justice for the Palestinian people.
According to him, “It is critical that Nigeria, alongside other nations of conscience, holds Israel accountable and those arming it to commit massacre after massacre with absolute impunity. Sustainable peace can only be achieved when the injustices meted out to the Palestinians are addressed, and the Palestinian people are granted their full rights under international law.
He also called on the Nigerian government to officially recognize and support South Africa’s exemplary role in confronting the dangers and threat to global peace represented by Israeli imperialist aggression, and that of its main supporter, the United States.
39 soundbites from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s address at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 79), delivered by Vice President Kashim Shettima. #UNGA79:
1. Our world is confronted by profound moral questions that will require more than the habitual remarks from… pic.twitter.com/lYSCzulLdv
— Gimba Kakanda (@gimbakakanda) September 26, 2024
“We urge the international community to act with the urgency, resolve, and moral clarity required to bring an end to the violence in Gaza and to work towards a lasting and just peace to end the 76-year-old occupation of Palestine,” he added.
Similarly, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) also commended the Vice President, describing his speech as insightful, penetrating, bold, arcane and cerebral.
In a statement released on Thursday, 26th September, by the Group Founder/Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, MURIC, however, demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Nigerian Ambassador to Israel to drive home its message at the UN.
The full statement reads:
“Vice President Kashim Shettima did Nigeria proud on Wednesday, 25th September, 2024 when he delivered Nigeria’s speech on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 79).
“Nigeria’s demand for justice, freedom and full independence for the Palestinian people as expressed during the speech tallies with the wishes and aspirations of justice-loving Nigerians. This speech is insightful, penetrating, bold, arcane and cerebral.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived at the UN building for a crucial meeting with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. He received a warm welcome from UN Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed.#NigeriaAtTheUN… pic.twitter.com/CWZ7SgX2U4
— Stanley Nkwocha (@stanleynkwocha_) September 26, 2024
“The state of Israel is a warmongering entity whose vocabulary lacks the words, ‘peace, tolerance and justice’. Unfortunately, America and its Western allies have turned the UN into a toothless bulldog. This is why the Zionists will continue to defy the UN and genocide in Palestine will continue ad infinitum unless concrete actions are taken by individual countries of the world who know the essence of peaceful coexistence.
“South Africa manifested its understanding of this concept when it dragged Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) where Israel was indicted and the order was given for the arrest of Netanyahu. More countries are needed to demonstrate the world’s resolve to stop Israel’s intransigence and its endless crave for more blood.
“Just as Nigeria was at the forefront of the anti-apartheid struggle in Zimbabwe and South Africa, it is now the turn of Nigeria to move against Israel. We, therefore, charge Nigeria to walk its talk at the UN by withdrawing its Ambassador to Israel with immediate effect in order to drive home its message at the UN.”
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