•As UNILAG students call for UN Security Council seat for Africa
By Emma Emeozor
Taiwan has said it is willing to extend its goodwill and substantial cooperation to assist President Bola Tinubu achieve the campaign promise of turning the South East region to a manufacturing hub.
During the 2023 presidential campaign, Tinubu said his administration wold make the South East zone the Taiwan of Africa through industrialization if elected to power. He stated this at the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign rally at the Pa Ngele Oruta Township Stadium in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi State.
Representative and chief of the Taiwan mission in Nigeria, Andy Yih-Ping Liu, disclosed this in a chat with Daily Sun on the sidelines of the occason of the International Affairs Students’ Association (IASA), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, ‘2023 annual award of excellence’ to the pioneer members of the association and ‘certificate of recognition’ to the outgoing members of the association.
Liu was the guest of honour at the event. The envoy said Taiwan has been known for being a success story, noting that, behind the South Asian island’s success was the belief of the Taiwanese people that “the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
He said: “Taiwan and Nigeria share the same core values of democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech and expression,” assuring that these core values have that “both Taiwanese and Nigerian hold dear would definitely draw both nations closer together in the future.”
According to him, “these have all drawn a distinct difference between democratic governments and totalitarian regimes.” Liu said he was amazed to see how many efforts that IASA members have made in gathering abundant information about Taiwan, and putting them into a fine-tuned article published in their periodic journal.
He encouraged the students to further advance their academic interest in exploring the knowledge about Taiwan, China, Indo-Pacific and comprehensive knowledge about Asia.
While, describing members of IASA as young bright students and prominent scholars, Liu expressed his most sincere appreciation to the association for paying particular interest of studying Taiwan and its profound achievements of democracy, economic and technological development.
Earlier in his welcome address, the association’s staff adviser, Dr Ferdinand Ottoh, explained how the students were inspired to form the association and its approval by the university authorities.
Ottoh said IASA students were inspired by the need to “promote and project the ideals of the United Nations and African Union, which is to make the youths vanguard of peace (Peace Ambassadors.)
According to the don, “these international bodies recognize that there will be no development without peace,” stressing that “in this regard, diplomats has a role to play in ensuring a peaceful world.”
He told the audience that “it is by building a peaceful world through youths’ participation in decision making that we can achieve preventive diplomacy as envisioned by then United Nations Secretary General, Dag Hammarjkold and later Brtros-Brutros Ghali.”
Highlighting the advantages members derived from the association, Ottoh said it “provides the students of international affairs the platform for cross-fertilization of ideas, how to conduct themselves within and outside the university, speak and behave diplomatically.
“The association is a training ground for future diplomats just like the United Nations model for the youths in the universities that usually gather every year in Abuja, under the umbrella of the United Nations to deliberate on the development in the world.”
He expressed optimism on the future of the association, quoting a famous Chinese proverb that says, “A journey of ten thousand miles begins with a step.”
His words: “The journey of the association has begun today. This is a new dawn that looks bright, as the out-going executive has laid a solid foundation for the growth and development of the Association.
Indeed, the pioneer members have provided the framework for subsequent executives to build on.”
He eulogized both the outgoing executive of the association “for working tirelessly to put this event together. Our journey to reposition the association after COVID-2019 and eight months strike, some members dropped out with the notion that the association is a waste of time. But for the doggedness and tenacity of the executive under the leadership of Ambassador Solomon Temitope, and other deeply and genuinely committed members it has become a worthwhile and lived experience and not a waste of time,” he observed.
He advised both former members of the association, who have graduated and the outgoing members who are expected to graduate this year to always remember the values that the association has inculcated in them. “My advice to you is that you should not lose your head when others are losing theirs. Anywhere you find yourself, create an opportunity for yourself. It is only a lazy man that says there is no opportunity while a hard-working man creates an opportunity for himself.”
Temitope:presented the 2023 A annual report that contained the details of the activities of the year, including ‘situation report’ from 2019 to 2023.
An overview of the report shows the thinking of members of the association on critical global issues concerning Nigeria and the international community at large. They include the crisis of Xenophobia in South Africa and how it can be solved, building of lasting peace in Eastern Europe, the Russia-Ukraine war and the issue of the democratization of the United Nations and the case of Africa’s inclusion in the permanent membership of the world body’s Security Council.
The association called on the African Union and the United Nations to officially condemn xenophobia crisis in South Africa while asking
Pretoria to embark on a nationwide campaign to foster peace and security in the country.
The association drew attention to the Russia-Ukraine war and appealed to the international community to increase diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict. The association wants more sanctions imposed on Russia.
On the UN Security Council membership, the association frowned at the non-inclusion of African countries as permanent member(s) of the council. It called for the admission of African states(s) into the council.
The report read in part: “Bearing in mind that Africa as a continent has the highest number of democratic states in the world that forms the largest bloc in the UN, recognising the need for a quick resolution to engender the inclusion of Africa as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, further recognizing the sovereignty and equality of all nations, urges the international community to be democratically representative by increasing membership to countries from each continent.”
The report also highlighted the history and current state of Nigeria-Taiwan relations. The association noted that Taiwan “has assisted other countries in their national development and conducted humanitarian assistance work through the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF).
“The IASA, therefore, recommends that Taiwan, through bilateral investments in industry and infrastructure in the Nigerian economic ecosystem, through the financial support of critical technological projects in the form of research and development in the areas of agriculture and health, as well as investments towards vital social infrastructural projects in the country that would facilitate broader economic growth in Nigeria.”