The Chancellor and Chairman, Board of Regents, Covenant University, Dr. David Oyedepo, has charged African leaders to wake up to their responsibilities and look inward with less dependence that someone somewhere will help the continent out of its predicament.
The iconic Leader gave this charge during his welcome remarks at the recent event which was held at the institution’s CUCRID auditorium to commemorate the international day of reflection on the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda “KWIBUKA 30” hosted by the United Nations Information Centre in partnership with Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.
He urged African leaders to wake up and break away from the colour of inferiority other races ascribe to the people, saying solutions to conflicts and bloodshed should be indigenous.
“We have seen enough of it and whatever is happening worldwide must be overcome. War is devastating, war destroys and its cost is invaluable. War’s cost is unbearable and can be avoided by all means. The ghost of Rwanda genocide remains scary for me.”
He lauded the government of Rwanda for the impressive rebirth of the country and its survivors.
In his Keynote address at the event, the Head of the ECOWAS Presidential Election Observation Mission in Senegal, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, called for a reform of the United Nations and an expansion of the Security Council as presently constituted.
Prof Gambari, who is also the former Foreign Minister, and United Nations Under-Secretary-General, said reform will enable the Security Council to live up to its responsibilities under the UN Charter and prevent events like the 1994 Rwandan genocide, conflicts in Gaza and other places.
He said that the Rwandan genocide of 1994 exposed serious structural and policy failures in the UN system, especially the Security Council, which had received plenty of warnings about the impending tragedy in Rwanda but failed to fulfil its primary responsibility under the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security.
Calling for the reforms of the UN, especially the Security Council, the Diplomat submitted that without doubt, it was the Security Council and its most powerful members that failed the people of Rwanda in their gravest hour of need.
“We should know first of all that power comes with responsibilities under the Charter and the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council need to live up to that as specified under the Charter.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres represented by Mohamed Malik Fall, the United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, lamented that one million Tutsi children, women and men were killed by their fellow Rwandans as families turned against families, friends became foes, and a dark spirit of intentional and brutal violence engulfed a nation.
In the message read by Dr Seyi Soremekun, the National Information Officer, United Nations Information Center, the UN Secretary-General said the commemoration of the Rwandan genocide 30 years ago is reawakened once more by the voices of extremism, division and hate.
“On this solemn day of remembrance, let’s pledge to stand as one against all forms of hatred and discrimination. Let’s ensure that the acts that began on April 7, 1994, are never forgotten and never repeated. Anywhere,” Guterres appealed.
The Vice-Chancellor of Covenant University, Prof Abiodun H. Adebayo, decried the wanton waste of lives in Rwanda and advocated that such should not be allowed to reoccur.
