FG needs force and dialogue to combat militancy — Gambari

Prof. Ibrahim Gambari was the Minister of  External Affairs between 1984 and 1985. He also served as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1990 and 1999. The retired diplomat addresses a wide range of national issues in  this interview with SUCCESS NWOGU.

It appears that the Federal Government is having difficulties in  repatriating looted funds from foreign countries. What is your reaction to this development and what is the solution?

We  all know that it will not be easy to repatriate looted funds, but they belong to the people of Nigeria. The country  in which these funds are located have their own reasons for the delay or, in some cases, even put obstacles on the path of repatriating these funds. However, it is up to us. We cannot give up. It is our money. It is our nation‘s well-being that is at stake. There are three main avenues that we have to explore; first is the United Nations. There is a Convention or Resolutions on the Repatriation of Illegally Acquired Funds in respect of the banks of the receiving countries.  We have to explore the provisions. There is also the United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes which has been assisting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and our security outfits in the past.  But when they felt that we were not very serious on the issues, they scaled down the cooperation. Recently, however, the Director General of the UNODC,  Mr. Yury Fedotov, visited Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari received him.  We have  to pursue that avenue very vigorously since he had expressed commitment to assist us in the recovery of the looted funds. Second is the African Union which can be utilised as an ally in our efforts to retrieve these funds. The third avenue is very important. This is to strengthen bilateral relations in order to put recalcitrant nations on notice that they will jeopardise their bilateral relations with us, if they refuse to carry out a timely repatriation of these funds. My view on this is that the burden is on us and not on them, we cannot give up. We have to intensify efforts. Finally, we can seek arbitration and go to some courts as an additional resort.

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