Regina Otokpa 
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, has warned that the patience of numerous colonised territories including American Samoa, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and Western Sahara, have long been exhausted.
Speaking further he said the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, could have been avoided if more countries had followed Nigeria’s lead in recognising Palestine as an independent state.
Gambari, who was Chief of Staff to former President Muhammadu Buhari, made the disclosure at the International Conference to End Colonialism, organised by the Society for International Relations Awareness (SIRA), yesterday in Abuja. He said: “In 1984, as Foreign Minister, Nigeria recognised Palestine and granted it ambassadorial status.
Perhaps, had the world followed this direction, the calamity in Gaza might have been averted.” Gambari also recalled Nigeria’s recognition of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara) during his tenure as minister, a move that secured its membership in the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
Speaking on the theme: ‘The Forgotten Peoples: International Conference to Decolonise the World’, Gambari, who also served as the last Chair of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid, emphasised the need for coordinated global efforts to liberate the remaining colonies, as he regretted that many territories were still struggling for freedom decades after the passage of a UN resolution on decolonisation when he was just 16 years old.
“There are still colonies across the globe, particularly in the Caribbean, with at least 61 territories, 17 of which are recognised by the United Nations. “In 2020, the UN General Assembly, through Resolution 75/123, proclaimed 2021 to 2030 as the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.
We are gathered here to breathe life into this resolution, seeking pathways to actualisation rather than pushing it into yet another decade.” President of SIRA, Owei Lakemfa, emphasised the conference’s role in addressing the problem of colonialism and urged Morocco to grant full independence to Western Sahara, which has been a member of the African continental body since the 1980s.
The conference, attended by dignitaries from around the world, featured speeches from former political prisoners Oscar Lopez Rivera and Edwin Cortes, who spent decades in prison for their advocacy for freedom, as well as a keynote address by Ambassador Oubi Bachir, the representative of the POLISARIO Liberation Movement in Switzerland.
