Venezuela: Olehi advocates urgent reforms of UN structures

By Athan Agbakwuru, Owerri

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Barr. Ngozi Olehi, SAN has harped on the necessity to urgently reform the United Nations’, UN, operational structures in order to enable the organization intervene timely and appropriately to
political instability occasioned by fraudulent and fragile electoral systems, grave corruption and money laundering across several nations of the world.

Speaking to journalists in Owerri on Sunday, Barr. Olehi noted that transactional politics and governance, escalating terrorism and religious extremism across the globe calls for the urgent reform to enable UN operational structures to intervene to dismantle strongholds of political leaders who tolerate such atrocities that aggravate multidimensional poverty and encourage genocides against perceived tribes or people of faith.

Olehi noted with dismay that tyrants, gravely corrupt and incompetent political leaders across several nations of the world, hide under the doctrine of sovereignty to unleash avoidable economic sufferings and hardships on their citizenry.

He regretted that sovereignty which is ordinarily intended to protect independent nations from unnecessary foreign interference in domestic affairs has been turned to a tool for such corrupt leaders to undermine the human rights of citizens with impunity and no proper UN oversight intervention.

According to him, such unjust actions and deprivations that subject their citizens to degrading and inhuman actions that ultimately decimate their populations and subject people to suffering and avoidable hardships should be stopped before they develop firm roots.

The Imo state born SAN lamented that bad governance, looting of public treasuries, relentless breach of human rights, money laundering, genocides, insecurity caused by terrorism and other forms of organized illegal actions should be taken as severe crimes against humanity generally and must not be further tolerated under the guise of respecting sovereignty whereas tyrants continue to exterminate lives, degrade citizens and brutalize the opposition to enable such leaders entrench an illegitimate system that will ‘legalize’ the absurdities of lawlessness.

He argued that such heartless leaders have thrived because of the docility of UN and other international organizations and advised that limiting the doctrine of sovereignty can help curb tyrants and reduce mass suffering but only when it is applied consistently, grounded on international law and prioritizes civilian protection over power politics.

He added that the basis of such safeguards and interventions must be to protect human rights, maintain the rule of law ensure accountability and transparency in governance.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria suggested that such intrusions against excesses of mindless political leaders should be done by United Nations and other international organizations instead of powerful nations who may have genuine concern to protect the vulnerable but may be accused of being driven by strategic interests, geopolitical rivalries and economic motives.

“Presently, economic governance and poverty reduction require external oversight to discourage kleptocracy and elite capture, improve transparency in resource management and prevent leaders from weaponizing poverty for political control.

“Sovereignty is not just control but responsibility. When a nation fails to protect its people and maximally guarantee their welfare, the international community has a moral and legal basis to interfere, not sitting by to watch the degeneration to humanitarian crises when the global community would begin to scamper around for food and drug donations as harmless and weak citizens are hastened into their early graves during mass repressions, ethnic cleansing, religiously motivated killings and genocides.

“It is not enough to impose sanctions against countries of erring leaders since such can exacerbate poverty, weaken institutions and prolong instability all of which affect the civilian populations more than the political leadership that wax strong when the people are weak and loose strength and voice to challenge the greed and power battles of heartless leaders,” Olehi opined.

Barr. Olehi, SAN further declared, “It is unjust for heads of state to watch their colleagues destroy institutions, deliberately weaken the judiciary and unleash security agencies against the opposition and the vulnerable only to stand up to condemn revolutions or military take-overs that succeed to uproot such cruel leaders,” and advised the peoples of the world not to relent in fighting tyranny.