GOVERNMENT-Week-6-8.Pdf

WEEK 6

United Nations Organization was set-up on the 24th Oct, 1945 as a result of League of Nations’ failure to prevent the occurrence of war which it was established for in 1919. It was Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Great Britain and President Franklin Roosevelt of U.S.A. that discussed the need for a new body to replace the League of Nations. After many wartime conferences it was agreed upon that a new organization was needed to maintain international peace and the original plan was decided upon by the UK, USA, USSR and China.

In 1945, fifty(50) nations signed the Charter of UNO at San Francisco in USA, the original members grew to 100 in 1960 and increased to 12) in 1970 and presently it has increased to 193 with the inclusion of New created Southern Sudan. Membership is open to every nation in the world that has gained independence.

The Charter that set up UNO requires that any country wishing to become a member must be recommended by at least seven members of the Security Council including the five permanent ones and been elected by a two-third majority in the General-Assembly. The UNO headquarters is located in New York City.

Aims and Objectives of UNO

The UNO was set up for the following purposes

(1) To maintain international peace and security, and serve as a forum for discussing world issues.

(2) To develop friendly relations among nation in order to achieve international co-operation in solving economic, social, culture and all humanitarian international problems.

(3) To promote decolonization of dependent and colonial countries.

(4) To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

(5) To promote and encourage respect for human right; fundamental freedom for alland equality of person and nations.

(6) To promote economic and social advancement of peoples under a peaceful, just and harmonious atmosphere.

Basic Guiding Principles of the UNO

In order to achieve its stated aims and objectives the organization is guided by certain principles which include:

(1) Principle to recognize and respect the sovereign equality of all states.

(2) The preparedness to fulfill in good faith, their obligations under the Charter.

(3) The principle of peaceful settlement of international disputes among member states.

(4) The principle of non-interference in the internal or domestic affairs of member states except when the prevailing situation in the affected country or countries threatened world peace.

(5) The principle of collective action in maintaining collective security and restoring world peace.

Organizational Structure or Main Organs of UNO

The UNO is made up of six principal and functional organs through which it carries out it assigned functions. These are

(1) The General Assembly:

This is made up of all members of the UNO, it is presided over by a president elected for one year, the current president is MogensLykketoft of Denmark. The assembly works through seven committees namely: Administrative and budgeting committee,Economic and Financial committee,legal committee,social, Humanitarian and cultural committee,political and security committee, special committee and interesting committee. Tenure is a year.

The functions of the assembly include:

(a) To meet annually in September, also additional session can be held in time of need.

(b) The organ amends the charter of UNO.

(c) The organ scrutinizes and approves UNO budget, admission of member states and all matters within the scope of the charter.

(d) It coordinates the works of its committees that is done through the five official languages of the organization – English, Russian, French, Chinese and Spanish. 2

(e) It has power to suspend or expel an erring member.

(f) It elects judges of the international court of justice in conjunction with the Security Council.

(g) It elects the ten non-permanent members of the Security Council, the trusteeship council and the twenty-seven member of the economic and social council (ECOSOC).

(h) It appoints the secretary-General on the recommendation of the security council.

(2) The Security Council:

This council consists of 15 member-nations i.e 5 permanent member and 10 non-permanent members. The five permanent members of UNO, namely USA, USSR, Britain, France and China are the victorious powers of 1945, who proposed and signed the charter of the UNO, the ten non-permanent members are elected by General Assembly for two-years term. The permanent members of the council possess and exercise veto power over any decision that is against their interests.

Functions of the Council

(1) To maintain peace and security in the world.

(2) To investigate disputes that may threaten world or global peace and takes necessary measures to safeguard it.

(3) It tries to find ways and means of settling conflicts that might arise between countries.

(4) It also recommends to the General Assembly, who should be elected to the post of Secretary-General of the organization.

(5) It scrutinizes the credentials and recommends to the General Assembly, countries seeking admission into the UNO.

(6) It recommends legal disputes to the world court i.e international court of Justice.

(7). The council joins the General Assembly in electing judges to the I.C.J.

(3) The Secretariat:

This is the administrative organ of the UNO. It is headed by a Secretary- General in the organizational structure of UNO, secretariat is the administrative organ and it headed by a Secretary –General who is recommended by society council and appointed by the General-Assembly for a term of five years (which is renewable till infinity). (All the Secretary- General so far have been men great ability and also, they are dedicated to the organization. The past secretaries are: (1) Trygve Lie from Norway (1946-1952). (2) Dag Hammarskjolb (1953-1961) from Sweden. (3) U- Thant of Burma (served for ten years) 1961-71. (4) Kurt – Waldheim of Australia (1972-81). (5) Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru (1982-91). The first African to hold the UN Secretary-General post was (6) Dr. Boutros, Bautros Ghali of Egypt,(1993-96) (7) He was succeeded by another African(7) Dr. Koffi Annan of Ghana 1997-2006. The current secrtary-General (8)Ban Ki Moon of South Korea 2007 – till date.

Functions Performed By the Secretary General

(a) The secretary handles all the correspondence of the UNO (i.e News, stories, Newspaper, postal or other written communications).

(b) It makes an annual report to the General Assembly on the whole work of UNO.

(d) To appoint the staff of the UNO.

(e) It makes available all the needed facilities for all UNO meetings.

(f) It alerts the General Assembly on any event that could threaten the security of the international system.

(4) The Economic and Social Council:

The council consists of 54 members that are elected by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. Seats are allotted based on geographical representations with 14 allocated to African states, 11 to Asian states, 6 to Eastern European states, 10 to Latin American states, and 13 to Western European states.

Functions of ECOSOC

(1) The council directs and coordinates the economic and social activities of the UNO and its agencies.

(2) It makes recommendation for the promotion of fundamental human rights to children of the world and improvement of living generally.

(3) It helps in improving the living conditions of the people around the world.

(4) It coordinates the work of the specialized Agencies of UNO such as (a) UNESCO - United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization,

(b) UNICEF – United Nations International Children Emergency Fund,

(d) IMF– International Monetary Fund,

(e) ILO – International Labour Organization, (f) WHO – World Health Organization,

(g) IBRD – International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank),

(h) UPU – Universal Postal Union.

(5) International Court of Justice (ICJ):

The ICJ is also known as the world court with its headquarters in the Hague, Netherlands. Its 15 judges are jointly elected by Security Council and GeneralAssembly. Judges are elected for a term of nine years. The decision of this court is binding on members states. ICJ or world court is the principal judicial organ of the U.N.O.

Functions of ICJ

(1) It is the main judicial organ of UNO.

(2) It settles disputes between states on international level.

(3) The court gives legal advice to the UNO and specialized agencies.

(4) It makes the decisions of the court binding on member-states in disputes.

(5) It interprets internationals conventions and agreements.

(6) Trusteeship Council:

The trusteeship council consists of member countries administering trust territories, permanent members of the Security Council and as many other members elected on a three year term by the assembly. The trust territories which were formerly called Mandated territories are the territories placed under the international trusteeship system. It was set up toe examine how effective the administering nations are to the trust territories.Among the countries are Togo, Cameroon, Tanzania and Namibia.

Functions of Trusteeship Council

(1) It pays official and regular visit to territories for assessment or inspection.

(2) It supervises the administration of the Trust territories.

(3) It encourages trust territories towards the attainment of self- government.

(4) It receives reports from states administering trust territories and petitions from the administered territories for study and considerations.

(5) It helps promote the social, economic, political and educational development of the inhabitants of the trust territories.

Roles of Nigeria in UNO

(1) Establishing herself as the giant of Africa by making Africa the centerpiece of her foreign policy.

(2) Regular and prompt payment of her dues.

(3) Nigeria has been sending her soldiers to support UNO peace- keeping mission.

(4) Nigerian (i.e Joseph Garba) has served as UNO General Assembly president in the 44th session.

(5) Through her vibrant (human resources) representatives she has been contributing to the success of U.N.O.

Achievements of UNO

(1) Settlement of disputes between member –nations through the world court e.g Nigeria and Cameroon over Bakassi Peninsular

(2) Prevention of another world war e.g the attempt made by Iraq to annex Kuwait was restrained by UNO.

(3) Through trusteeship council and its specialized agencies, UNO has helped some countries that have not gained independence to do so e.g Nambia

(4) UNO has been sending peace keeping forces in areas of conflict in the world.

(5) It provides grants and loans through the World Bank (i.e IBRD and IMF).

(6) It promotes fundamental human rights through its declaration in 1948 by General Assembly.

(7) Granting technical assistance to help members in their developmental programmes.

(8) Members have been benefiting from UNO specialized agencies like UNICEF, UNESCO etc.

(9) Health tips and updates from W.H.O. on the causes of some diseases like small pox, cancer etc are parts of the benefits to member-states.

Problems of UNO

(1) Shortage of fund as a result of its involvement in large scale operation.

(2) Sovereignty of Nations i.e member-states are not ready to surrender the sovereignty to the authority of UNO.

(3) Differences in the political ideology and culture of members.

(4) Exercising of veto power by the super powers of the world can be misused for selfish interest.

(5) Lack of permanent military force is another problem.

(6) The conditionality in the roles of IMF is tantamount to neo- colonialism and this to some extent has crippled the economy of most developing state.

(7) The presence of some regional group like A. U., ECOWAS, EU and regional military parts or alliances e.g WARSAW, NATO, ECOMONG have reduced the commitment of member to UNO objectives.

WEEK 7

C. ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY

The organization of African Unity was founded on May 25, 1963 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is a free association of independent African states with the mind of uniting all African states against the forces of colonialism and imperialism and work towards resolving African socio-economic and political problems.

Before the formation of O.A.U., three groups or blocs with different ideologies and goals were in existence namely:

(1) Casablanca group it was founded in 7th Jan. 1961. It was spearheaded by Kwame Nkruma of Ghana; it was a radical group that called for the immediate political integration of Africa i.e The group advocated continental political union. Members include: Ghana, Egypt, Mali, Algeria, Guinea, Libya etc.

(2) Monrovia. It was a moderate or conservative group that advocated for a gradual political integration and emphasized cooperation in economic matters as the first stage towards African unity. It was spearheaded by Tafawa Balewa of Nigeria, its members include Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Togo, Tunisia and Somalian. It was formed between 8th – 12th May in 1961.

(3) Brazzaville: It consists of 12 former French colonies i.e Central Africa Republic, Cameroon, Congo, Brazzaville, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Niger Republic etc. they share the same ideology with Monrovia group, it was founded on 12th Sept. 1961.

However, at the signing of O. A. U. Charter on 25th May, 1963 at the headquarters of O.A.U i.e. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, these groups were dissolved and harmoniously formed a united group. The organization which started with 30 members later grew up to about 53 members and they are all independent states. 8

It must be stressed that O.A.U. has outlived her usefulness (since all the countries in Africa are independent). Therefore it is a defunct organization.

Charter of Principles of O. A. U.

(1) All member states are sovereign, no member shall attack or annex the territory of another member state.

(2) To settle disputes peacefully.

(3) Policy of non-interference i.e no member has the right to interfere in the internal affair others of other member states.

(4) To work for total emancipation of all the countries which are still under colonial rule.

(5) Equality of states i.e no state shall exercise domineering power over other states.

(6) To uphold policy of non-alignment i.e member states shall neither support West bloc nor East bloc.

(7) To condemn and prevent all forms of political assassination perpetrated in African states.

Aims and Objectives of O. A. U.

(1) To eradicate all forms of colonialism.

(2) To foster unity and promote solidarity of (i.e. bond of unity between individual) all independent African states.

(3) To defend member states sovereignty.

(4) To coordinate efforts to achieve better life for African people i.e good living standard.

(5) To promote international co-operation within the framework of the UNO in maintaining world peace.

(6) To promote peaceful resolution of disputes among member state.

(7) To speak with one voice on World affairs in order to have a united front.

Organs or Institution of O. A. U.

A. The Assembly of Heads of states and Government: This organ is the highest and most powerful organ in the O. A. U. It is made up of Heads of states and government of all member states. The organ meets once in a year, but there can be extraordinary meeting during emergencies which must be approved by two-third of the member.Voting is by simple majority and each state has only one vote. The organ has a chairman who serves for one year.

FUNCTIONS

(1) The organ admits new member(s) into the organization.

(2) The organ is responsible for the appointed of the Secretary-General of the organization.

(3) Another function performed by this organ is the approved of proposal for charters amendment.

(4) It discuses matters of common or general interest that affect Africa.

(5) It examines the activities of various organs of O. A. U. and commission.

(6) It settles issues or matters with two-third majority.

B. The Council of Ministers: The council consists of Foreign or external affairs ministers of each member state or any other ministers appointed by the government for this purpose. This council meets twice a year, but an extraordinary meeting may be summoned and it requires the approval of two-third of the member states. Quorum is also formed by 2/3 of the council.

FUNCTIONS

(1) It prepares the agenda for the meetings of the Assembly of Heads of states and government.

(2) The council is responsible to the Assembly of Heads of states and government.

(3) It approves the annual budget of the organization.

(4) The council implements the decision of the Assembly.

(5) It recommends who to appoint as Secretary-General to the Assembly.

(6) It also recommends the admission of new members into the organization to the Assembly.

(7) The council coordinates inter-African cooperation in accordance with the provisions of the charter.

C. The Secretariat: This is the administrative organ of O. A. U. with its headquarters at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. The head of secretariat is the Secretary-General who is also refers to as the chief administrative officer, He has two assistant secretaries. All of them are appointed by Assembly of Heads of states and government on the recommendation of the council of Ministers. The secretary-General has a tenure of four years and may be re- appointed for another term.

The following were the past Secretary –General of the O. A. U.

(1) Kifle Wodajo of Ethiopia 1963 - 1964

(2) Diallo Telli of Guinea 1964 - 72

(3) Nzo Ekangaki of Cameroon 1972 – 74

(4) William Eteki Mboumoua of Cameroon 1974 – 78

(5) Eden Kodjo of Togo 1978 – 83

(6) Peter Onu of Nigeria 1983 – 85

(7) Ide Oumarou of Niger Republic 1985 – 89

(8) Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim of Tanzania 1989 – 2001

(9) Essy Amara of Cote D’ivoire was the last Secretary-General and the new organization (A.U.) continued with him, 2001 – 2003.

FUNCTIONS

(1) It implements all the administrative duties of the organization.

(2) It prepares the budget of the organization for each fiscal year, this is donewith the approval of the council of the ministers.

(3) The organ prepares the agenda for meetings of the council of minister which usually takes place at the secretariat.

(4) It prepares annual reports of the activities of the organization.

(5) The secretariat prepares or draws the programme of activities for the organization on yearly basis.

(6) It provides all the needed facilities for all meetings of the organization.

(7) It is the body that controls the finances of the organization.

FUNCTIONS OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

(1) He is the chief administrative officer of the organization.

(2) He controls all the activities at the secretariat.

(3) He ensures that the decisions arrived at by the Assembly of Head of state and Government are adequately implemented.

(4) He supervises the activities of other organs i.e specialized commission.

(5) He prepares the annual budget of the organization.

(6) He prepares the annual report of the organization

(7) He has power to recruit and control members of his staff.

D. The Commission

This organ was mainly set up to settle disputes among the member state in a peaceful means. The 21 members commission was decided upon at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia for the purpose earlier mentioned and it is called Commission of Mediation Conciliation and Arbitration. The activities of the commission are determined by the Assembly of Heads of state and Government. To facilitate and promote the work of organization, five specialized commissions were set up. These are:

(i) Education and Cultural commission.

(ii) Economic and Cultural commission

(iii) Health, Sanitation and Nutrition commission

(iv) Defense commission

(v) Scientific, Technical and Research commission. 12

The memberships of these specialized commissions are the concerned ministers in their respective state.

Nigeria’s Role in the Organization

(1) Nigeria has been contributing to the progress and upliftment of the O. A. U. by making Africa the centre-piece of her foreign policy.

(2) Nigeria has been giving aid to member-states that are in need of such assistance.

(3) Nigeria has been paying her annual dues regularly.

(4) Nigeria had helped other African countries that were formally under the influence of European Administration to gain independent e.g. Zimbabwe, Nambia.

(5) Nigeria has been mediating in internal disputes of member-states.

(6) Nigeria has been participating in sports organized by the supreme council for sports in Africa.

(7) Nigerian government supported the nationalist movements in South African and helped in eradicating apartheid system.

Achievements of the O. A. U.

(1) The organization served as a forum for African leaders to discuss African affairs.

(2) The organization has mediated in internal disputes of member-states e.g Nigeria civil war.

(3) It has settled many boundary disputes, and prevented many inter state wars among members e.g. boundary disputes between Morocco and Algeria, Uganda and Tanzania, Guinea and Senegal, Ethiopia and Somalia etc.

(4) It has encouraged regional and economic co-operation in Africa e.g. ECOWAS.

(5) It has succeeded in promoting unity among member.

(6) The organization played a crucial role in the eradication of apartheid policy in South Africa.

(7) The organization has allowed the African states to take a united stand at the U. N. O.

(8) Through liberation committee of OAU, aids were given to African countries that were struggling for independence.

(9) It has created the African Development Bank to finance development in African through granting of loans to member states.

Benefits of Nigeria as a member of O. A. U.

(1) The organization tried to settle crisis in Nigeria during civil war.

(2) Nigeria has benefited from African Development Bank’s aid.

(3) Nigeria has benefited from economic ties among member-states e.g. ECOWAS.

(4) Citizens of Nigeria have been enjoying human rights which were included in the aims of U. N. O.

(5) Nigeria has been maintaining her sovereignty in Africa.

Failures of the Organization of African Unity

(1) Some of her members still owe allegiance to their former colonial masters.

(2) The organization does not have standing army or military wing.

(3) There is language difficulty among members.

(4) There is irregularity in the payment of dues by member states; this has greatly affected the organization.

(5) There are still many unresolved border crises within the continent.

(6) Frequent military interventions have affected the bond of unity between individual and cooperation among the member-states of the O. A. U.

(7) Differences in ideology (i.e belonging to different blocs) has been affecting decision –making and implementation of the organizations programmes.

(8) Most of its difficulties stem from the lack of cooperation of the member.

(9) Poor leadership: Most of the leaders in member-states are not reliable, honest and dedicated.

(10) Neo-colonization is another failure, because some of the member- states depend largely on developed countries for financial assistance.

WEEK 8

E. AFRICAN UNION (A. U.)

Organization of African Unity (O. A. U.) was replaced by African Union (A. U.) on 8th July, 2002 because the former has outlived its usefulness. The decision was arrived at in the 37th and last summit of the O. A. U. held in Togo in July 2001. Forty members of O. A. U. attended the summit out of 53 members. The meeting was held in Durban, South Africa.

Thabo Mbeki of South Africa was chosen as the first president of the African Union. The first summit of the newly born organization (African Union) took place on 3rd of Feb. 2003 at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. The headquarters of African Union is at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

Aims or Goals of A. U.

(1) Commitment to democracy and fundamental human rights.

(2) Commitment to economic development i.e to have greater access to world markets and fight corruption which had taken the centre-stage of continent’s politics.

(3) To end conflicts in Africa and promote greater unity.

(4) To eradicate poverty, disease, wants and ignorance in the continent.

(5) To foster deep and strong political economic and social integration among member states.

(6) To develop and introduce a single currency for the African continent.

(7) To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its member-state.

(8) To promote peace, security and stability on the continent.

ORGANS OF AFRICAN UNION

(a) The Commission: This is the administrative organ of AU that replaced the O. A. U. General Secretariat, It is organized like the European Union Commission. The organ performs the same functions of secretariat of O.A.U. The commission has Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and eight members, making 10 members. The first Chairperson of the commissionwas the former and last O. A. U. Secretary-General, Mr. Amara Essy of Cote d’ivore. The organ implements policies and coordinates the activities and meeting.

(b) The Assembly: This is the supreme organ of the A. U. it consists of Head of states and government in Africa. It discusses matters of common interest to Africa with the purpose of coordinating general policy. It is chaired by Chairperson the current chairperson is Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The organ meets once in a year.Tenure is one year.

(c) The Executive Council: This consists of the Foreign Ministers of each member state. It has similar functions like that of the O. A. U. i.e it is answerable to the assembly. It prepares agenda for the Assembly meeting.

(d) The permanent Representatives: This is the committee of ambassadors of member-countries accredited to the former O. A. U. The organ is given multifaceted task of which most of them are subservient to the function of the executive council, these include: Serving as an advisory body to the executive, preparing the agenda of executive council etc. The permanent Representatives committee may set up ad-hoc committee as it deems necessary.

(e) The Pan African Parliament:

Pan African parliament is one of the organs of the A. U. The organ is meant to provide a vehicle through which African citizens can contribute towards deliberating and providing advice on how to deepen democratic governance. The composition of this organ is drawn from parliamentary group of each member-state, each state shall be represented by five members of whom at least one must be

a woman. The term of office of an individual representative depends on his/her term of officer in the national parliament.

(f) African court of Justice

This organ was established as a principal judicial organ of the union. It is proposed that the court shall have two section; the general affairs section and Human rights section. The organ shall take decision on all judicial matters of the union. The quorum of five judges shall be required for deliberations of each section of Human right section and nine for General Affairs section.

(g) Specialized Technical Committee

These are the committee of experts that assist the executive council in pursuing it’s a numerous agenda. The committees are

(i) The committee on Rural Economy and Agricultural Matter.

(ii) The committee on monetary and financial affairs

(iii) The committee on trade, customs and immigration matters.

(iv) Committee on industry, science and technology, energy, natural resources and environment.

(v) The committee on transport, communications and tourism.

(vi) The committee on Health, labour and social affairs.

(vii) The committee on education, culture and human resources.

The above mentioned committees shall be composed of delegates who have the responsibility to sectors falling within their respective area of competence. The assembly has power to restructure the seven committees, or to establish other specialized committees at it deems necessary.

(h) The Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC)

This organ was established to build a strong partnership between governments and all segments of the African civil society. It is defined as an advisory organ of A. U. consists of different African social groups, professional groups, non-governmental organizations, and cultural organizations.

(i) Financial Institutions:

The constitutive act of the African union determines that the union shall have three financial institutions. These are:

(a) The African Central Bank

(b) The African Monetary Fund Bank

(j) Peace and Security Council

The peace and Security Council consists of 15 member states which 10 of them shall remain in charge for a term of 3 years.

The term of office of the latter category is extended by a year as compared to the former with a view to ensuring continuity of the task within the council. All members of the PSC have equal votes and status i.e no member shall have authority to exercise veto power like what operates in UNO.

The membership will be rotated among member states of the union, also the chairmanship of the Peace and Security Council shall be held in turn by the members of the council in the alphabetical order of their names and shall hold office for one calendar month. The Assembly is duty bound to apply the principle of equitable regional representation and rotation among member states.

The functions of the council include:

(i) Promotion of peace, security and stability in Africa.

(ii) Anticipation and prevention of conflicts.

(iii) Assist the peace building and post conflict reconstruction activities.

(iv) To join African hands in the fight against terrorism and developing a common defense policy for the African Union.

(v) Any other function as may be decided by the Assembly.