President Muhammadu Buhari,has urged G20 to consider outright debt cancellation for countries facing the most severe challenges on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buhari,who begged for the debt cancellation in his speech at the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, said developing countries have been faced with unsustainable debt burdens even before the pandemic
He added:‘‘The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of new wave of deepening debt, where vital public financial resources are allocated to external debt servicing and repayments at the expense of domestic health and financing for critical developmental needs”.
He told world leaders that the recent trend of unconstitutional takeover of power, sometimes in reaction to unilateral changes of constitutions by some leaders, must not be tolerated by the international community.
He warned that democratic gains of the past decades in West Africa ‘‘are now being eroded’’ due to these negative trends.
Buhari reaffirmed Nigeria’s support to efforts by ECOWAS, AU and the UN to address this growing challenge, adding:”As leaders of our individual Member-States we need to adhere to the constitutional provisions of our countries, particularly on term limits. This is one area that generates crisis and political tension in our sub-region.’’
He emphasized the need for the international community not only to deal with the symptoms of conflict but also the immediate causes that fuel conflicts in the first place.
He added:‘‘These include poor and undemocratic governance, human rights abuses, poverty, ignorance, injustice and inequalities.There are no easy solutions to these conditions. They require long term investments and more effective international cooperation. In this connection, my delegation underscores the importance of promoting peaceful, unfettered, and inclusive participation of states in global actions towards conflict prevention.
‘‘This will facilitate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union Agenda 2063.”
