UN80: Our Achievements Should Give Us Hope for a Better Future By Philemon Yang

By: Michael Mike

Eighty years ago this month, the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco, turning the page on decades of war and offering hope for a better future. For 80 years the United Nations has stood as the highest expression of our hopes for international cooperation, and as the fullest embodiment of our aspiration to end the “scourge of war.” Even in a world steeped in cynicism, this is a milestone worth acknowledging.

The United Nations remains the only organisation of its kind, and the only one to have endured for so long. That longevity is remarkable when we consider the context of its founding: assembled from the rubble of not one, but two global cataclysms. Its predecessor, the League of Nations, had collapsed in disgrace.

No organisation is flawless. But to paraphrase the second Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld: the United Nations was created not to take humanity to heaven but to save us from hell. In that mission, it has not failed.

We continue to witness heart-wrenching scenes of war—in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere. The recent escalation between Iran and Israel is a stark reminder of the fragility of peace particularly in the tension-prone Middle East region.

Yet amid the violence, we have managed to avert a third global war. In a nuclear age, that is an achievement we can never take for granted. It is one we must preserve with the full force of our efforts.

Over the past eight decades, much of human development also bears the direct imprint of the United Nations. Consider the success of the Millennium Development Goals, adopted in 2000 by 189 Member States and more than 20 international organisations, which gave the world a shared roadmap for action.

By 2015, compared to 1990, extreme poverty was more than halved. Child mortality had fallen by nearly 50 percent. And millions of children — especially girls who had long been denied the right — had entered school for the first time.

Now, as we strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we must build on that legacy of progress. We must continue efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, achieve universal health coverage and produce and consume sustainably.

There is another story of progress, often overlooked: the dismantling of empire. Eighty years ago, colonialism cast its shadow over much of the world. Today, more than 80 former colonies across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific have gained independence and joined the United Nations. That transition, supported and legitimised by this Organisation, reshaped the global order. It was a triumph of self-determination, a profound affirmation of the Charter’s most fundamental principle: the sovereign equality of all States.

Evolving for the future

The world has changed dramatically since 1945. Today, the Organisation faces a deepening liquidity crisis. Despite the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, progress has been uneven. Gender equality continues to elude us. Our pledge to limit global temperature rise and protect our planet is slipping beyond reach.

These setbacks do not warrant diminished ambition but greater resolve. The United Nations has always shown its worth in times of crisis. Its founders had witnessed humanity at its most destructive and responded not with despair, but with boldness. We must draw on these achievements.

The spirit of San Francisco was not utopian. It was grounded in a sober understanding of what was at stake. It held that, even amid deep division, nations could still choose cooperation over conflict and action over apathy.

We saw that spirit last September, when world leaders gathered in New York for the Summit of the Future. After difficult negotiations, they adopted the Pact for the Future and its annexes—the Declaration on Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact—by consensus. In doing so, they pledged to renew multilateralism for a world more complex, connected, and fragile than the one imagined in 1945.

That spirit endures today. It lives in the resolve of 193 Member States, in the integrity of international civil servants, and in the quiet determination of those who believe firmly in the promise of the Charter. It is carried forward by the Secretary-General’s UN80 initiative, which calls on us to deliver better for humanity; and to look to the future with adaptability and hope.

As we mark this anniversary, we must rekindle the call for unity and solidarity that rang out from San Francisco 80 years ago.

We built a world order once, in the ruins of war. We did so with vision and urgency. Now, again, we find ourselves at a moment of consequence. The risks are high. So too is our capacity to act.

H.E. Mr. Philemon Yang, is the President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly

UN80: Our Achievements Should Give Us Hope for a Better Future By Philemon Yang

US Trains Nigeria, Others on Effective Drug Enforcement

By: Michael Mike

Special Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will host an advanced-level course for 35 law enforcement, prosecutors, magistrates, and training personnel from Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Togo.

According to a statement by the U.S. Embassy, the training addresses the growing threat of transnational drug trafficking across West and Southern Africa, where criminal networks are increasingly using the region as a transit and distribution hub for illicit narcotics.

The statement added that the course strengthens participants’ capacity to lead complex investigations, with a focus on international controlled deliveries, conspiracy cases, inter-agency coordination, and operational planning—reinforced through scenario-based exercises.

It added that all programmes at the International Law Enforcement Academy – Gaborone are intended to bring partner countries together to promote cross-border cooperation and enhance regional efforts to disrupt organized drug crime.

Established in 2000, the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) Gaborone is Africa’s premier institution for law enforcement training and regional security cooperation.

It is a joint initiative between the United States and the Government of Botswana, ILEA Gaborone has trained over 18,000 law enforcement and justice officials from more than 38 African nations.

Backed by Botswana’s annual in-kind support and staffed by instructors from 16 U.S. agencies, ILEA delivers cutting-edge instruction on transnational crime, fostering lasting U.S.-Africa partnerships.
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US Trains Nigeria, Others on Effective Drug Enforcement

FACT CHECK: How Bello Turji ambush DSS personnel and HYBRID forces in Fakai village, Zamfara

By: Zagazola Makama

Following the deadly ambush on a covert counter-banditry operation in Chida village of Fakai, Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, by the DSS and Hybrid personnel, conflicting reports have continued to swirl around the actual number of casualties and the circumstances surrounding the attack.

Some media outlets initially reported that 24 security personnel were killed. Others, in the following hours, raised the figures to 40, and by the next day, some headlines claimed up to 100 fatalities. However, an in-depth fact-check conducted by Zagazola Makama has uncovered discrepancies in the early media narratives and clarifies what truly transpired.

The Operation

On June 23, a joint covert operation involving the Department of State Services (DSS) and a special unit of the HYBRID Forces a blend Civilian Joint Task Force operatives was launched into the notorious bandit stronghold of Chida village. The area is a known operational base of Bello Turji, one of the most wanted terror leaders in the North West.

According to credible intelligence sources familiar with the operation, over 314 personnel were mobilised for the assault. The objective was a targeted neutralisation of Bello Turji and his lutenant that have reigned terror in the North West region.

At the onset, the mission recorded initial success. Over 25 bandits were reportedly neutralised, and several camps were destroyed in the first phase of the assault.

However, things tool a bad turn quickly when fleeing terrorists reportedly reached Turji’s inner enclave and informed him of the incursion. In response, Turji is believed to have mobilised more than 100 heavily armed fighters for a swift counter-attack.

According to sources on the ground, the DSS-led personnel, operating without clear aerial surveillance or local terrain advantage, were taken by surprise in a devastating ambush. The attackers reportedly surrounded the operatives and launched a coordinated assault with heavy fire.

The ambush resulted in the instant deaths of 10 members of the HYBRID Forces and one Bashir Maniya an ex-militant leader along with two of his lieutenants from Sokoto who had joined the mission. An additional 28 operatives fled into surrounding bushes in a bid to escape. Twenty-three others, including DSS personnel and local civilians, were wounded during the assault, and 48 individuals were still unaccounted for at the time of filing this report. Two operational vehicles belonging to the DSS were also destroyed, and some weapons were reportedly seized by the bandits.

Reality Check on Fatalities

Contrary to exaggerated figures circulating online and in print, official intelligence sources confirmed to Zagazola that only 13 confirmed deaths occurred in the ambush 10 HYBRID operatives, 3 private collaborators. The majority of the operatives 238 out of 314 returned without injury. Bello Turji later did a video showing at-least 9 people who were killed at the scene, while others died from injuries.

Communication Failure and Lack of Reinforcement

One critical factor that complicated the aftermath was the total blackout in GSM communication in Zamfara’s Shinkafi axis. With no satellite or radio relay functioning at the time, reinforcements could not be deployed promptly. The terrain, notorious for its poor access roads and dense bush paths, due to the rain fall, further impeded a quick response by the troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA.

Security experts who spoke to Zagazola Makama emphasised that the outcome may have been different had there been real-time intelligence coordination, backup planning, and multi-agency synergy, especially involving the military or air support during the operation.
The DSS reportedly undertook the mission with minimal collaboration from the Nigerian Army or Air Force, despite the high-risk nature of the target.

Security analysts warn that no single agency should undertake deep incursions into hostile territories like Shinkafi without full-spectrum support including ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), air support, casualty evacuation plans, and fallback protocols.

While the nation continues to support and commend the bravery of operatives confronting violent non-state actors in the North West, it is imperative that future missions—particularly those targeting high-value targets like Bello Turjiare better coordinated. Only a unified front across intelligence, military, and paramilitary agencies can yield sustainable results and prevent tragic losses.

FACT CHECK: How Bello Turji ambush DSS personnel and HYBRID forces in Fakai village, Zamfara