Nigeria has assumed the one-month rotational presidency of the United Nations Security Council, as the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Prof Joy Ogwu, takes over from Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen, the permanent representative of New Zealand, who held the presidency for the month of July, 2015.
This will be the first time in the history of the UN that an elected member of the Security Council would assume presidency of the council for the fourth time in two separate tenures within five years. Nigeria was elected a non-permanent member of the council on 17 October 2013 and is serving for the period 2014 – 2015.
This is the fifth time since independence that Nigeria has been elected to serve on this most powerful decision-making organ of the United Nations charged with the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. Nigeria previously served on the Council from 1966 – 1967, 1978 – 1979, 1994 – 1995 and 2011 – 2012.
A statement from the head of media for Ambassadors and permanent representatives in Nigeria’s permanent missions, Dr Tope Adeleye Elias-Fatile noted that Nigeria’s return to the council in January 2014, after having left only in December 2012, represents one of the shortest periods in the annals of the UN that a member state has spent up to two terms in the council.
This is even more remarkable as it is occurring under the institutional memory of the same permanent representative, Ambassador Joy Ogwu.
Nigeria currently holds the chair of two security council committees: The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2048 (2012) concerning Guinea-Bissau and Iraq Sanctions Committee pursuant to resolution 1518 (2003).
