The Nigerian government says the two-state solution remains the most dignified path to lasting peace for the people of Palestine. President Bola Tinubu, represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, said this on Wednesday during the general debate at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The Nigerian leader said, “We do not believe that the sanctity of human life should be trapped in the corridors of endless debate. That is why we say, without stuttering and without doubt, that a two-state solution remains the most dignified path to lasting peace for the people of Palestine.

“For too long, this community has borne the weight of moral conflict. For too long, we have been caught in the crossfire of violence that offends the conscience of humanity. We come not as partisans, but as peacemakers. We come as brothers and sisters of a shared world, a world that must never reduce the right to live into the currency of devious politics.”

Mr Tinubu noted that the people of Palestine are not collateral damage in a civilisation searching for order. According to him, they are human beings, equal in worth, entitled to the same freedoms and dignities that the rest of us take for granted.

Mr Tinubu said, “We want to make the choice crystal clear: civilised values over fear, civilised values over vengeance, civilised values over bloodshed. We show the opportunities that peace brings, just as the extremist hopes to drive apart rival communities and different religions.

“We work through multilateral platforms within the rule of law, to build the consensus and support that makes this immensely difficult and dangerous task that much easier. This is how we deny our enemies the space they crave to fuel tension and despair. It is our experience that this offers the best, perhaps only hope for peace, reconciliation and victory for the civilised values of a shared humanity.”

He explained that Nigeria, as a diverse country, also recognises the variable geometry of democracy; its different forms and speeds.

“For this reason, we are working with the United Nations to strengthen democratic institutions in our region and beyond, through the Regional Partnership for Democracy,” noted the president.

Mr Tinubu noted that the price of peace is eternal vigilance, adding that the increasingly difficult security outlook has prompted many member states to count the cost of the emerging world order.

“We in Nigeria are already familiar with such difficult choices: infrastructure renewal or defence platforms? schools or tanks? Our view is that the path to sustainable peace lies in growth and prosperity.

“The government has taken difficult but necessary steps to restructure our economy and remove distortions, including subsidies and currency controls that benefited the few at the expense of the many,” added the president.

(NAN)