UN Lauds Obasanjo’s Role as Ethiopia, Tigray Sign Peace Deal

*600,000 lives lost to conflict 

*It’s new dawn for Africa, says ex-Nigerian leader 

*Represents important step towards peace, says US

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday took special cognisance of the critical role played by Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, towards the signing of a peace deal between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Following efforts by the ex-Nigerian leader, the parties in the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray have now agreed on a “permanent cessation of hostilities’’ just more than a week after formal peace talks began in South Africa.

The development, according to the US State Department spokesperson Ned Price, “represents an important step towards peace.”
“We applaud the parties in their commitment to peace in reaching this agreement. The United States remains committed to supporting this African Union-led process and peace and to partnering to advance peace in northern Ethiopia.”

Negotiations began on October 25 in Johannesburg and concluded after 10 days.
The deal calls for the disarming of Tigrayan forces, with both parties agreeing to “permanently silence the guns.” The parties agreed to “stop all forms of conflicts and hostile propaganda,” calling Ethiopians within the country and abroad to support efforts for lasting peace.

The deal followed a truce to end the conflict that has killed thousands of people, displaced millions and created a desperate humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia.

The African Union’s mediator announced the “permanent cessation of hostilities” following talks in Pretoria, South Africa, almost two years to the day since the start of the war.

“Ethiopia’s government and Tigray authorities have agreed on an orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament. Today is the beginning of a new dawn for Ethiopia, for the Horn of Africa and indeed for Africa as a whole,” Obasanjo declared.
According to him, the two sides have also agreed on: “Restoration of law and order, restoration of services, unhindered access to humanitarian supplies and protection of civilians”.

 “This moment is not the end of the peace process but the beginning of it. Implementation of the peace agreements signed today is critical,” Obasanjo added.
Diplomatic efforts to bring to the negotiating table the government of Prime Minister , Abiy Ahmed  and the TPLF – a guerrilla movement turned political party which dominated Ethiopia for 27 years – intensified after a five-month truce was broken in late August and fighting resumed.

In a statement released by his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarri, Guterres said the agreement signed in South Africa represented “a critical first step” towards ending the brutal two-year war.

The UN chief added that it was a promising start to finally stopping the fighting which erupted in November 2020 after months of tension.
“The secretary general urges all Ethiopians and the international community to support the bold step taken today by the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the Tigrayan leadership,’’ he said.

The secretary-general pledged his support to the parties in the implementation of the deal.
He also urged both sides to continue with negotiations on the outstanding issues in the spirit of reconciliation in order to reach a lasting political settlement.
The UN said the war had led to a de facto blockade of Tigray, with humanitarian supplies of food and medicine unable to get through throughout most of the last two years.

Guiterres said it was a promising start to finally stopping the fighting which erupted in November 2020 after months of tension which had destroyed so many lives and livelihoods.
“The secretary general urges all Ethiopians and the international community to support the bold step taken today by the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the Tigrayan leadership,’’ the statement said.

The secretary-general pledged his support to the parties in the implementation of the agreement.
The UN chief urged both sides to continue with negotiations on the outstanding issues in a spirit of reconciliation in order to reach a lasting political settlement.
He appealed to all stakeholders to seize the opportunity provided by the ceasefire, “to scale up humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need and to restore the desperately needed public services.”

Guterres commended  Obasanjo, the AU and its high-level panel for the facilitation of the peace talks and South Africa, for its key role hosting the peace talks.
“The UN stands ready to assist the next steps of the African Union-led process and will continue to mobilise much-needed assistance to alleviate suffering in the affected areas,” he said.

“We are ready to implement and expedite this agreement,” said the head of the Tigray delegation, Getachew Reda, who added that they had “made concessions, because we have to built trust.”
He also expressed gratitude to Obasanjo and other mediators, saying in a statement the government’s commitment to the implementation of the agreement was strong.

“Our commitment to peace remains steadfast. And our commitment to collaborating for the implementation of the agreement is equally strong,” the statement said.
The negotiations in Pretoria were the first formal dialogue between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF since the conflict began. Secret contacts were held previously in Seychelles and Djibouti, according to a Western official.
The AU said in a statement it stood ready to continue accompanying the Ethiopian peace process “towards a more democratic, just and inclusive Ethiopia in which youth, women and men participate fully and in peace”.

“The lasting solution can only be through political engagement and being able to accommodate our differences, our diversity, while still remaining a united Ethiopia. The lasting solution can only be dialogue,” said former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, a co-mediator in the talks.
The two-year war led to the deaths of more than 600,000 people and the internal displacement of millions of others.

The war, which broke out in November 2020, has pitted regional forces from Tigray against Ethiopia’s federal army and its allies, which include forces from other regions and from neighbouring Eritrea.