PLENARY REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO OF NIGERIA
Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to be here.
I want for a brief moment to describe to you what we may call the driving force in Africa today. About four years ago, three of us, all African leaders, happened to be in a situation where we had to do things together. I was the Chairman of the Group of 77. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa was the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement and President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria was the Chairman of the Organization of African Unity, as it was known then.
The three of us were mandated by the different organizations that we were chairing to do something about the plight of the developing world and particularly about Africa. So we met the G8 in Tokyo. They gave us less than an hour to talk to them. Afterwards, we realized that we had to do something ourselves.
And what did we have to do? We had to put our act together in what was then called "New Africa, New Initiative." The idea was to create a comprehensive plan for an all-embracing development for Africa -- socially, politically and economically.
We worked with our experts and provided guidance. Our concern was how to face the challenges of poverty, of instability, of economic dislocation, of infrastructure decay, of things not happening as they should in Africa and to move away from what a few moments ago Eveline Herfkens called "business as usual."
We were determined to take our destiny into our hands. Before, we have had a number of programs designed in Africa but which had not worked such as the Lagos Plans of Action and the Abuja Treaty. And there have been other efforts imposed from outside, especially by the Brettonwoods Institutions, such as structural adjustment, that have not worked.
We came out with what is today called NEPAD: "New Partnership for Africa's Development." The emphasis is partnership: partnership in our own countries, between government and the private sector; between the public sector and the civil society; between men and women; between the young and the old. Partnership all the way.
But we know that partnership within our own nations alone is not enough. So we also see it as partnership within our sub-regions in Africa. In West Africa it is bilateral and multilateral partnerships. For example, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Benin are on the same grid of power transmission, so that we can share electricity. We also have the West African Gas Pipeline, with gas from Nigeria going along the West African coast to generate power for industrial development in other countries.
We of course talk about partnership and using the regional economic communities as the building blocks for an Africa Union itself. And then of course the ultimate is partnership between Africa and the rest of the world.
One difficult area where partnership is needed is in the realm of security, and balancing the need for security with the pressing needs for development and international cooperation. I know that after 9/11 this country -- the United States -- felt shaken. Maybe my language is strong but that's the way I saw it as a leader. I wondered what I would do if I woke up early one morning and found that, from nowhere at all, Lagos was attacked, or Abuja was attacked. I would feel extremely worried. And after I had recovered from the shock and the trauma, I would do everything possible to make sure it did not happen again. And that would probably, initially, mean spending a little bit more for security than we would normally have spent.
So the question of course is how does one maintain the balance between more resources for security and striving to overcome the development problems I have spoken of? It's not an easy question to answer, but we know partnership is needed here too, within countries and internationally.
It is gratifying to note that on each of the four occasions on which we Africans have since met with the G8, they have given us their own plan of action for our continent based on NEPAD. And here in the United Nations, three resolutions were passed last year to work with Africa on NEPAD.
All this is to bring about partnership. We are saying that yes, we want to hold our destinies in our own hands. But we also are saying that we need partnership with the world; we need the partnership of the international community. And we are getting it.
Just last month we met with the G8 at the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development. The discussion was about how Japan and other nations can work with Africa on the business of NEPAD. That is as it should be. But more is needed. We need partnership in international trade regimes, and an understanding by the developed countries that if we are going to overcome poverty by the year 2015, the developed countries have to change their policies of subsidies in things like sugar and milk production that are crushing producers in Africa.
I will end on a positive note. We see a new commitment today, among our friends around the world and most of all in Africa. We can see the commitment and the optimism on the faces of our people and in the new institutions, the new voices, the new commitments and new strategies of corporations that have emerged all over Africa, initiated on the basis of NEPAD. We can see hope for the future in the strong opposition to military coups and a new commitment to containing and eliminating conflict and beating the scourge of poverty.
We can see the future in the faces of young people who have openly resolved to live with the sacrifices that are necessary to move the continent forward. I humbly invite men and women of good will to join hands with us in Africa as partners to promote growth, stability, development and democracy. Thank you.
PRESIDENT OLESEGUN OBASANJO'S TRIBUTE TO DAVID ROCKEFELLER
It is a great honor for me, at the invitation of Peggy Dulany and The Synergos Institute, to be here and to pay David Rockefeller a deserving tribute.
I am proud to say that this man is a friend of mine -- I hope he is a friend of yours.
Let me humbly borrow a line from my brother and Africa's most celebrated statesman, President Nelson Mandela, whose words of wisdom summarizes much of what I would like to say tonight. I quote:
"Long before globalization became a household word, David Rockefeller realized the importance of cultivating strong, trusting relationships with countries and their leaders around the world. We are privileged to be the beneficiaries of his lifelong commitment to world peace, I am especially privileged to be a witness to the very unique qualities of this great man. His openness and candor, his decency, integrity and humanity have been starkly evident in the long distinguished career as a life of real discipline and impeccable sense of responsibility."
I like to believe David stands as a soldier, officer and gentleman, which influenced his unique perspective on the events and possibilities of our time. As a banker and financier David was a great modernizer and internationalist. As a "globalist" and world actor he showed a most passionate interest in the welfare of the world around him.
Those with any doubts only need a glance at the works of The Rockefeller Foundation; its fight against hook worm, yellow fever, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases or its assistance in developing hybrid varieties of corn, wheat and rice. I know first-hand of the contribution of The Rockefeller Foundation to the establishment of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, which is based in Ibadan, Nigeria and of which I am a former advisor.
These are a few of the deeds that have served mankind; they are the basis of the revolution in health services and agriculture. These are benefits we enjoy today.
As a world-renowned philanthropist, David has made immense contributions to education, health care and welfare in Africa, particularly in my own country, Nigeria. We have the famous Ahmadu Bello University Library in Zaria as a standing testimony. David we are grateful to you.
At 88, David Rockefeller does not show any sign of slowing down. He remains a most distinguished ambassador of America to the world -- a world traveler who goes about doing good.
David, this morning I was in Houston, Texas and I saw President Bush Senior. And I mentioned to him that I would be seeing you this evening and he said, "Can you take a card and deliver it to David?" And I have the card here.
I thank David for being a remarkable Rockefeller. I thank God Almighty for giving you to the world, above all. I thank Him for making you a noble friend of Africa and mankind. I thank Him for making you a friend of Nigeria and for giving me the opportunity to know you and your service to humankind. And I am happy to share with Peggy Dulany the pleasure of honoring and celebrating with friends and well-wishers a father and an icon worthy to be celebrated.
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Olusegun Obasanjo was born in Ogun State in the southwest of Nigeria to a middle class family. He attended high school in Nigeria and later went to military schools in England and India. He served as a teacher briefly before joining the army in 1958. He became military ruler of Nigeria in 1976 and then voluntarily handed power to civilian rule in 1979 and subsequently retired from politics. In 1995 Chief Obasanjo was jailed as a political prisoner and was released in 1998. In 1999 he was elected president and was re-elected in 2003. He has served in a variety of positions with international organizations, including in peacekeeping operations with the United Nations. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Ford Foundation, was founder and Chairman of the Africa Leadership Forum and served as the publisher of Africa Forum.