Topic: Dealing with Civil and Political Unrest
Country: Nigeria
Delegate Name: Amelia Cottrell
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Nigeria position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
Civil and political unrest has become an international issues that affects a large variety of nations. International efforts do not continually work out because they have a cumbersome time finding a clear resolution between right and wrong, due to the willingness of interested parties. Often times the resolutions result in a nation wide call for peace or call for chaos. The largest outpouring of civil unrest in recent years was the Arab Spring, this resulted in the international community to not know the next order of action. The UN can push for democracy, but they cannot give their endorsements because it tends to discriminate against other parties or groups. The current issue of ISIS emerged from the Syrian conflict between Sunni people and Shi’a people. Beginning with the anti-government protests and resignation of their president, Ukraine is involved in the ongoing civil war with the Russians. One of the key figures of the war is the Russian President, Putin, who is suspected for funding and aiding the rebels and even sometimes sending Russian soldiers across the border to fights.
Nigeria does not support the United Nations becoming involved in domestic civil and political crisis. Nigeria is able to use its history as a tactic for the future, because of the Nigerian civil war. The conflict of the war was the result of economic, ethnic, cultural, and religious tensions mainly between the Hausas of north and Igbo of the southeast of Nigeria. The war went from July of 1967- January of 1970. Nigeria was victorious, but unfortunately the war resulted in many casualties. The war was the first black-on-black genocide in postcolonial Africa. Also Nigerian constitution states that there will not be state religion, confirming freedom of religion and prohibiting discrimination on the basis of religious belief. If the United Nations were to become involved in domestic and political crisis it would cause conflicts between the christians and the muslims and we would not be following the Nigerian constitution. We believe we should be settled by a nation-state instead of the international community.
Civil and political issues in a nation-state should not be involved in the United Nations. As a developing nation with advanced government we have experience in our country from our past civil war. We also have a constitution with statements we need to abide by. The slight exception to this statement is in time extreme human rights violations our way of handling civil and political issues may be altered. Overall though, Nigeria does not suggest the United Nations in being involved in domestic civil and political crises.
