Mr. Speaker, the situation that has prevailed in Nigeria since the 1993 democratic elections were cancelled could have a disastrous impact on a large part of Africa, where Nigeria is a major player. Such destabilization could also have unpredictable repercussions throughout the world.
The human rights violations, particularly the arbitrary arrests and executions as well as the persecution of the Ogoni minority, are all reasons in favour of the international community taking swift and firm action against the Nigerian government.
Consequently, at the Commonwealth conference next week, Canada must actively promote the imposition of sanctions, including an oil embargo.
It has been more than a year since the Prime Minister raised the issue with Commonwealth officials; it is high time that concrete action were taken against Nigeria, as was done previously against South Africa.