ABUJA—FORMER Polish Ambassador to Nigeria,
Grezgorz Walinski has said that Nigeria has spent
about $13 billion on peacekeeping operations since
1960 and has also sent over 250,000 members of the
Nigerian armed forces to the United Nation’s
sponsored missions worldwide. Ambassador Walinski disclosed this at the
stakeholders’ dinner reception for the Nigeria
Security Exhibition and Conference, 2014, organised
by First Security Guards Limited in Abuja. He noted that despite the numerous contributions of
the country in peace operations, it was assumed that
the country had not taken full advantage of its active
participation in the numerous peace operations
around the world by not getting commensurate
economic, military and political remuneration for its participation. He cited countries like Ghana that had also
participated in numerous UN PSOs but generated funds
through the process to defray the costs of sustaining
its military, while Nigeria on the other hand had
largely allegedly deprived itself of such benefits. According to him, the country started peacekeeping
operations few days after her independence in 1960
in Congo and since then, the country’s forces have
participated in many operations across the globe
under varying international legal authority executing
a variety of operational mandates. He said: “Her contribution to the UN peacekeeping
operations is only surpassed by those of India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh. Over 250,000 members of
the Nigerian armed forces have participated in UN
sponsored missions worldwide.” “Having been involved in 40 of the 55 peacekeeping
missions of the UN, Nigeria has now participated in 73
percent of all UN peacekeeping operations. Four of
these missions have been commanded by Nigeria
senior military officers. Nigeria currently has about 6,
000 peacekeepers in various flashpoints, 4, 000 of which are in Darfur, Sudan,” he stated. The former Polish Ambassador to Nigeria further said
that many potential conflicts were effectively
prevented due to Nigerian diplomacy. Therefore,
Nigeria’s direct involvement as chief mediator in a
number of territorial disputes and crises effectively
allowed to avoid them and in consequence eliminated the threat of their development into full-scale conflicts. Ambassador Walinski noted that the international
community was getting fatigued and increasingly
reluctant to intervene in Africa’s conflicts, adding,
“During last two decades, we witnessed gradual but
inevitable shift from foreign intervention carried on by
European military contingents to establishments and strengthening of Africa’s own capability to prevent,
to monitor and to resolve crises which inevitably will
erupt.” He said that the country was faced with myriads of
security challenges but added that the “Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri has assured
the international community that Nigeria would
continue to work in the area of preventive
diplomacy.” He said the main problem of the country was
terrorism, though it would not change the country’s
position as regional leader, stressing that the country
had always succeeded in learning from her
experiences and making her experiences the source
of even greater power. He also said that the idea of organizing the security
exhibition at the FCT was important as it served as a
forum where all actors both state and private sectors
and those that have the right to use power and those
who can supply them with the products would come
together and discuss security matters and also proffer solutions. Speaking earlier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of First Security Guards who also is the chief organizer
of NISEC, 2014, Frank Ohwafa said the reception was
organized to bring together all stakeholders in
preparation for the 2014 Nigeria Security Exhibition
and Conference, NISEC, homeland security show. Ohwafa said First Security Guards had in the past
collaborated with other security agencies in areas of
capacity building and competence needed in an ever
changing environment to fight and combat crime and
criminality. “In year 2007, First Security Guards signed a
partnership with the Nigeria Police to train and retrain
her personnel in contemporary policing and crime
fighting,” he stated and commended the National
Security Adviser for using his office and appointment
to promote peace and security, enduring lasting security platforms for better coordination of the
security agencies.



www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/nigeria-spends-13bn-peace-keeping-ex-polish-envoy/