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FAREWELL TO THE OAU

Olusegun Obasanjo

At The 37^th Ordinary Session of The Assembly of Heads of State & Government of The OAU

Lusaka, Zambia, 9 July, 2001

It gives me great pleasure to address you on this momentous occasion of the 37^th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of our organization. On behalf of my delegation, the Government and people of Nigeria, I thank our host President Frederick Chiluba, the Government and People of Zambia, for the warm welcome extended to us, and the excellent facilities at our disposal since our arrival in this beautiful city. I am optimistic that the congenial atmosphere that our host government has created for this Summit will afford us the opportunity to rub minds and arrive at decisions that will enable us meet the monumental challenges facing our continent.

Mr. Chairman, this Summit is historic in many respects. First, it is the last Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the OAU Heads of State and Governments before it transforms into the African Union. Second, the Summit is taking place at a time when a new African Union is being anchored, a new political, economic and social agenda aimed at addressing Africa’s deepening marginalisation in world affairs. Third, it is also taking place at a time Africa is progressively consolidating democracy and good governance for a more secure and prosperous future for our peoples.

There can therefore be no better and more suitable forum than this, whereby the collective African wisdom can be brought to bear on the challenge of Africa’s development in this millennium. Our major task therefore will be to embark on the process of stocktaking and evaluation of the programmes and policies of the past. This will naturally include a reappraisal of the strategies we have so far employed in the bid to move the continent forward under the banner of our organisation.

This Summit is expected to fashion out the most credible ways of advancing the interest of our peoples, given the new global developmental imperatives. We can achieve this by building on the achievements of the past, identifying areas where we have not fared as much as we would have wished, and charting a new way forward as regards the socio-economic recovery of the continent.

The primary challenge in this regard is to transform the character of our political system to that which gives primacy to economic integration and collective security. The African Union, which we have designed for ourselves can only succeed if we, as nation states, are prepared to surrender our sovereignties or part thereof in the interest of the African peoples. Our strength can no longer lie in the sheer number of countries and governments in Africa. Our strength must lie in our capacity to deliver on the promise of a better life that we made to our people as the basis of our mandate. Our strength must also lie in our willingness to mobilise and pool the resources of our continent together for the good of our peoples.

The imperatives of globalisation and the ease with which foreign capital moves across national boundaries leave us with one single option for accelerated economic recovery. There is, indisputably, the need to improve on our ability to compete effectively through the adoption of appropriate domestic economic reforms, while, at the same time, embracing the global trend towards economic integration and liberalisation. By doing this, we should not lose sight of the need to ensure that Africa is fully integrated into the global economy through increased participation in such areas as trade, capital flows, information and communication technologies, and human development.

It is in this context that Africa must be commended for the speed with which the processes leading to the ratification of the Constituent Act for the African Union were completed. This remarkable feat gives cause for hope and optimism that a brighter morning is foretelling what the whole day would be. As we move to the implementation stage of the Union, I am confident that the unity of purpose, which we have all demonstrated, will be brought to bear on the pursuit of our noble objectives.

Mr Chairman, you will recall that we have been working on an integrated plan for the economic recovery and development of Africa. The Millennium Partnership for African Recovery Programme (MAP) is a homegrown initiative aimed at giving effect to our united vision for a developed Africa in the new millennium. The Action Plan of the MAP, unlike its predecessors, is designed to translate our vision into reality. These efforts, which have benefited from the input and experiences of our development partners and agencies, deserve the support and approbation of this august Summit. We are convinced that the MAP, along with similar on-going projects and programmes, will serve as a catalyst for the successful realisation of the objectives of the African Union.

Let me point out at this juncture, that the necessity for a new Programme for economic recovery is borne out of our past experiences, whereby programmes were imposed on African countries, regardless of their respective economic and social realities. These programmes were seldom integrated into the national budgets, thereby offering little benefits to the citizenry. Above all, commitment to their implementation from all sides often left much to be desired. There is also the additional problem of sustainability in the face of donor fatigue, capital flight and excruciating debt burden. The MAP seeks to address these problems both in orientation, ownership and content.

The execution of the programme entails mandatory contributions from African countries. This is a remarkable departure from the past economic recovery initiatives whose implementation depended on donor benevolence and pressure. As we seek to implement the Programme of Action of the MAP, we should also address our minds to the modalities for the supervision of the programme. We should, for instance, not shy away from peer review as the need arises. Once we agree to sign up to the MAP, we are binding ourselves, voluntarily, to good practices and exemplary behaviour in terms of democracy and good governance. This entails the implementation of economic and social reforms as well as the promotion of peace, security and good neighbourliness.

Permit me, at this juncture, to express my heartfelt appreciation for the pioneering efforts of Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Abdel Aziz Bouteflika, and to all other colleagues who graciously agreed to join efforts with us in the elaboration of the MAP so far. I must also acknowledge the magnanimity of my Dear Brother, President Abdoulaye Wade who worked tirelessly to ensure that Africa speaks with one voice on a new economic recovery initiative. With this development, we have, once again, demonstrated our capacity to unite behind a common cause and a shared vision.

Similarly, we can showcase our recent achievements in the areas of democracy, good governance, and economic and social reforms, as evidences of good beginning of a new commitment to the rejuvenation of the African continent. It behoves the international community to support these efforts in the spirit of global partnership, and globalised village for all humanity.

In addition, the issue of the external debt burden constitutes a formidable obstacle to the promotion of economic development in Africa. Granting substantial debt relief to Africa, or indeed outright cancellation of the debt, should not be seen as an act of charity. It would certainly free resources for the execution of poverty alleviation and social programmes, thereby enhancing our capacity to participate in, and belong to the emerging markets. By assisting in the promotion of economic development, greater debt relief for Africa will increase the absorptive capacity for foreign investments in our economies. Above all, it will help in the reversal of capital flight, and serve as a demonstration of the new partnership that is envisaged in the MAP process.

Another striking example of Africa’s capacity to address the challenge of human development in Africa is our collective response to malaria, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. This is why Nigeria hosted a Special OAU Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and other Related Diseases last April. The Roll-Back Malaria initiative and the HIV/AIDS Programme of Action have proved to be Africa’s bold responses to the security and developmental challenges posed by these diseases. We must renew our commitment to the wholesale implementation of these programmes so that the de-capacitation of the human resources of our continent wrought by the devastation of these diseases can be reversed. It is gratifying to note that the international community, including the United Nations, United States of America, and the Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation have responded positively to the appeal for international assistance in this regard. The rest of the international community should also concert efforts with us in controlling the spread of these diseases.

Mr Chairman, at our Algiers Summit in 1999, we had declared Year 2000, a year of Peace, Security and Solidarity in Africa. Notwithstanding the existence of pockets of conflict on the continent, our achievements in the areas of conciliation, mediation, resolution, and post-conflict peace-building are considerable. The situation in Sierra-Leone has remained stable due to the progress made in the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Rehabilitation (DDR) process, while the crisis in the countries of the Mano River Union has continued to receive adequate attention. I wish to seize this opportunity to once again appeal to our brothers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra-Leone to demonstrate greater flexibility and true African solidarity in ensuring the rapid restoration of peace and stability in the sub-region.

The developments in the DRC are also encouraging, considering the progress being made on the withdrawal of foreign troops, the deployment of peacekeeping forces and the emerging climate of reconciliation in the country. Both Ethiopia and Eritrea have continued to demonstrate their commitment to peace and good neighbourliness. I appeal to both countries to continue their co-operation in the continental effort for the establishment of a durable peace in the Horn of Africa.

We have just held the inaugural session of the Gulf of Guinea Commission in Libreville, Gabon. The main objectives of the Commission include the joint exploration and utilisation of the resources of the Gulf of Guinea as well as serving as a regional mechanism for confidence-building and conflict prevention in the Gulf of Guinea area. With the coming into being of the Commission, Africa has again demonstrated its capacity to look inwards in finding solutions to some of the myriad of problems facing the continent.

Africa has since recognised the nexus between poverty and conflict in Africa. This has inevitably underscored our focus on poverty alleviation and rapid economic recovery programmes. Side by side with this, we should activate our Early Warning Mechanisms for conflict prevention, with a view to ensuring that timely actions are taken at the incipient stages of conflict. The provisions of the Constitutive Act of the African Union on conciliation and inter-state dialogue should be fully energised in this regard.

Our efforts within the various sub-regional organisations such as the ECOWAS peace-keeping operations, first in Liberia and currently in Sierra Leone, including the successful implementation of the moratorium on non-proliferation of light arms and small weapons should be coordinated for wider application on the continent. The international community must also support our efforts to rid Africa of the menace of illicit arms trafficking and proliferation.

Mr Chairman, as the African Union takes off in earnest, we should commend the achievements made possible under the aegis of the OAU. This organisation has ably represented and projected Africa’s aspirations throughout the struggle for political emancipation and independence. It has also been a veritable flagship in our quest for socio-economic development of the continent in the post-independence era. The transformation of the organisation is but a response to the enormous challenges posed by the new realities in the continent and in the world at large.

The African Union heralds a new dawn of hope for a better future for the peoples of Africa; a new era of concord, peace and progress for the entire continent. The challenge of leadership impels us to channel the creative potentials of our people for greater prosperity and a brighter future. I am convinced that the labour of our past leaders and our own dedicated efforts will not be in vain.

I thank you all.

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