The Israeli-Palestinian war in contemporary times has seen its peak since 2023 to date. This has garnered commentary, criticism, and uproar from the international community. Some countries in the West have voted against the war and called for humanitarian intervention and a ceasefire. In the early months of this year, South Africa, a country in southern Africa, sued Israel on the basis of genocide. Just recently, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate temporary ceasefire in Gaza. With the exception of the US, fourteen countries seconded the resolution.
The Senate President of Nigeria, Godswill Akpabio, has given his voice to the plea for the restoration of peace in the defensively war-torn Gaza Strip. The 148th Assembly of the IPU (International Parliamentary Union) in Geneva, Switzerland, kicked off on March 23 and will end on March 27, 2024.
During the ongoing session, Akpabio made a call for nations to embrace humanity and said thus: “Madam President, this is a lone voice from Nigeria. We tried our best in Angola, but we failed to lend a collective voice to what is happening in Gaza.
“Today, the world is very expectant. We must drop ego. It has nothing to do with which country brings the proposal. The basic tenets of humanity demand that we leave here with a resolution for the rest of the world, to show that we have human feelings in us.
“The issues are very clear. If you notice the proposal for 12 blocs; they attempted to even marry the proposals from South Africa. Yes! South Africa has a right to be emotional, but we have children who are dying even as we are talking now. We have people who do not have water to drink even as we are talking now. We have people who are going to suffer infection from gunshots.
“We have to show the world that we are human beings. The cessation of hostilities must be a part of our resolutions.
“Access to humanitarian aid must be a part of our resolutions. At the same time, the release of hostages and even those who are Prisoners of War, because if both sides take steps in releasing the hostages, releasing the Prisoners of War, it means that both sides have agreed the International Community can go to the next stage, which is negotiation for sustainable peace.
“If they cannot agree, I would urge that from here, we have a three-man drafting committee to come up with those resolutions which we must make before we leave here.
“We can no longer allow a child to die tonight without lending our voice. It doesn’t matter which side. We are all parents. If we come here to look for ego and then try to be emotional, it’s not affecting them.
“There’s nothing affecting Denmark, there’s nothing affecting South Africa. The people affected are over there and nobody will agree to the lone resolution from Israel. It must be all-encompassing so that we stand up from here as human beings. That would be my plea.
“Let them go aside, meet and remove those vexatious items. In the course of their discussions, we can have amendments, we can add items that we should add but we must discuss the Gaza issue in this 148th IPU Assembly. That is my position.”
This was hinged on fostering humanity and access to humanitarian aid. Do you think Akpabio’s approach and his resolution would work this time?
By Chidimma NWAFOR
