Analysts point to the February 2014 re-election of Nigeria as chair of the UN Peacekeeping Operations Panel, as a recognition of the country’s contribution to global peace. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maiden Annual Report from May 2011 - July 2012, right from the Congo crisis to present troubles, Nigeria has contributed both military and police personnel to more than 40 peacekeeping operations across the world. For instance, the Nigeria Police first participated in Peacekeeping operations in 1960 with the deployment of personnel to Congo. Likewise, the Military was fully involved in that mission. This was at the many African countries were yet to gain political independence. Since the Congo involvement, Nigerian peacekeepers were in Namibia, Angola, Western Sahara, Mozambique and Somalia. Other places in Africa in which Nigerian troops have participated in peacekeeping operations include Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan and Guinea Bissau. Currently, 1,200 Nigerian troops are participating in the Africa-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA), where the Nigerian Air Force deployed two fighter jets - NAF 452 and NAF 455 and helicopter gunships. The alpha jets were the lead fighter aircraft during Nigerias peacekeeping and enforcement duties in Liberia and Sierra Leone. “In the past 50 years, Nigeria has really done so much in Africa and at the global level. Remember the way we handled the regional crisis in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the way we handled the much recent crisis in Cote d’Ivoire, a senior research fellow with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, Dr. Efem Ubi, told PANA in an exclusive interview. Nigeria has committed more men and materials towards keeping the peace particularly in Africa and elsewhere than any other African country. According to the Nigeria Police website, the country has deployed over 12,000 personnel to various UN/AU and ECOWAS peace support operations. As at June 2013, about 5,000 officers and men of the Armed Forces were serving in nine UN Peacekeeping missions within and outside Africa. Nigerian involvement in peacekeeping operations on the continent is in line with its Foreign Policy Afro-centric posture. This commitment undergirds its determination to participate actively in conflict resolution in every part of the world through the instrumentality of the UN peacekeeping operations or the that of the AU.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 06:35:36 +0000
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