Ambassador Eniola Ajayi: All Countries Should Sign Up for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Nigeria’s nominee for the position of Director General, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Dr. Eniola Ajayi, has said it is important that all countries sign up to the convention against chemical weapons.

The Convention aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by state parties.

State parties, in turn, must take the steps necessary to enforce that prohibition in respect of persons (natural or legal) within their jurisdiction.

Speaking to journalist in Abuja, Dr. Eniola Ajayi, who at different times was Nigerian Ambassador to Hungary and The Netherlands, said one of the main things ahead he would work to achieve as the Director General of OPCW is to ensure that all the countries of the world sign up to the convention so we get a universal convention.

She lamented that right now we live in a very polarized world: “I will see how I can be a bridge builder, bringing everybody together to focus on the core reason why the convention came about in the first place. Which is to rid the world of chemical weapons.

“So that chemical weapons will not be used by anyone at anytime and anywhere in the world going forward. So, I would ensure that there’s proper collaboration. There’s less polarization within the organisation. And see how we can build a consensus around the issues that matter regarding the prevention, prohibition of chemical weapons.”

She added that: “Then, not in the order of priority, I intend to be able to use artificial intelligence in an ethical manner while serving as DG OPCW. They currently use it in the OPCW, but I would further look into how we can use artificial intelligence to our advantage.”

She also promised to pay attention to emerging threats for women and ensure focus is paid on forward-thinking leadership for OPCW and promote global cooperation amongst the state parties.

Ajayi, while explaining that there are 193 countries accredited to OPCW right now with four countries Israel, Egypt, South Sudan and North Korea, not yet on board, said she would encourage them to get enrolled.

She said: “I don’t know what’s going on within their country and why they’ve chosen not to participate. We can only speculate and imagine. So, for me, I would say that I hope to get Egypt and Israel to work simultaneously.

“To be able to achieve the goal of signing up and ratifying the convention together. So that no one is left behind in the process. Then the issue of South Sudan is that they’ve actually shown desire to join.

“But they’ve had some limitations because of the war going on there. And I know that there are state parties who have also told me that they’re willing to support their quest to be part of this organisation.

“And part of what I aim to do for them is to go through the African Union and also ask the state parties who have shown desire to assist in the process of ascension to the convention to come up and let’s do it together.

“Then for North Korea, North Korea is a country I hope to be able to reach through China because of their relationship. So, this is how I intend to go about it. It’s going to be a deliberate and real intentional effort to get them on board.”