Brothers and sisters,
I want to thank the organizers of this meeting in the heart of Harlem for this opportunity to say a few words.
This is a deeply moving occasion for me and I hope you will understand if I speak not only as the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, but also as the representative of Nigeria, and above all, as a humble African.
Coming to Harlem, I cannot but recall and be inspired by the memory of the great Afro-American and Pan African leaders - the giants of our time like Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Paul Robeson, Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., not to mention the many cultural personalities as well as the many African leaders who walked these streets, like the late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.
All of us have the great responsibility of fulfilling their testaments and dreams, of building a new world in which racism and racial discrimination will be totally abolished.
We meet here on the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, which has been proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
We recall the brutal killing by the racist police of South Africa of 69 unarmed men, women and children in Sharpeville in 1960, and the wounding of over two hundred, for no offence other than gathering together to protest against humiliating pass laws. We pledge, as we have done annually, that we will strive to eliminate racial discrimination from this globe.
But this year, which has been proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Year of Mobilization for Sanctions against South Africa, this Day has, and must have, much greater significance.
I need not recall to this audience the history of the humiliation of five centuries; or the historic resistance against alien occupation by our kings and chiefs who were overpowered by the superior arms of the invaders.
But I want to refer to the struggle for the redemption of Africa and people of African origin in recent times.
At the turn of the century, in 1900, a Pan African Conference was held in London. The Declaration of that Conference, prepared by Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, made the prophetic statement that:
"The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the colour line the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the Islands of the sea."
We have made some progress in the past 80 years but the international community has not yet been able to destroy the colour line and establish a true community of man.
Unless that colour line is destroyed, there can be no true justice and peace in this world. And that is what this International Day is about.
Our great leaders have also taught us that our struggle is not for the freedom and dignity of black men and women alone.
The people of African origin have been pushed by greedy forces to the bottom of the pile. When they regain their dignity, they will achieve not only their own liberation but also the liberation of all those who have been oppressed and humiliated.
The African people and people of African origin are thus destined by the Almighty to destroy injustice and build a new society for all the people of the world.
The struggle in South Africa today is not for the black people alone: it is even for the white people who are now driven by the racists into a suicidal course.
Last month, Dr. Neill Aggett, a white physician who had worked for a black trade union, was tortured to death by the South African police. Tens of thousands of African workers then went on a protest strike. Three thousand Africans defied the police to march in the funeral for this white man, and demonstrated the righteousness of their struggle.
Because they have been concerned about salvaging a just society of the future from the injustices of the past and present, the African people have been patient and have struggled by peaceful means, and made great sacrifices, in order to avoid a bloody race conflict.
For instance, there are hardly any parallels to the non-violent struggles in South Africa and in this country - and this was recognized by the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chief Albert J. Lutuli of South Africa and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of the United States of America.
It was only after gruesome massacres of unarmed people as in Sharpeville that the African people felt forced to resort to armed struggle - because violence is better than cowardice.
That was true of Algeria, of Angola, of Guinea-Bissau, of Mozambique, of Zimbabwe.
If the people of South Africa and Namibia are now taking up arms, they deserve full understanding and support. I am glad that they have received that from most of the world - and we cannot but denounce attempts in this country and elsewhere to defame the freedom fighters as terrorists.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The founding of the national movement in South Africa in 1912 was a landmark in the struggle for the redemption of Africa. So was the Pan African Conference in Manchester in 1945 attended by Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah, among others.
The independence of Ghana in 1957 - twenty-five years ago - was the beginning of the march of Africa to freedom.
We have made many sacrifices and won the independence of most of the African continent.
Only South Africa and Namibia remain.
The struggle in those countries is not the struggle of the people of those countries alone but of the world - of all Africa and all people of African origin. It is the final stage of the struggle for the emancipation of Africa - and no sacrifice is too high for ensuring the victory of that struggle.
I mentioned Kwame Nkrumah. It was he who gave voice to the feeling of all independent African States when he said that our own freedom is not complete, nor is it secure, so long as any part of Africa is under racist and colonial domination.
No person of African origin can walk in dignity so long as people of African origin are humiliated anywhere.
Brothers and sisters,
In the United Nations, we are doing our utmost to obtain maximum support to the liberation struggle in South Africa and Namibia, from Governments as well as from trade unions, religious bodies, student groups and other nongovernmental organizations.
I have just returned from a very encouraging mission to France and Britain for this purpose and have been moved by the dedication and commitment of millions of people there.
But here today, I would like to refer to the responsibility of all people of African origin - in Africa, in the Caribbean, in this country, in Europe and elsewhere - to stand in the forefront of this international campaign.
Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois said:
"When once the blacks of the United States, the West Indies, and Africa work and think together, the future of the black man in the modern world is safe."
We must work together.
The black people all over the world face many economic, social and other problems, but nothing overrides the struggle for the dignity of the human person and the centre of that struggle today is South Africa.
In saying this, we are not being exclusive. We do not claim that Africa is for the black man alone, any more than we accept that Europe and North America are for the white man alone; we must destroy racial discrimination everywhere.
It has been said that the United States is the second largest "African" nation, next only to Nigeria.
We, in Nigeria, are conscious of our responsibility. Our government and people have proclaimed that African liberation is our foremost priority. We shall not be wanting in courage or sacrifice.
I am sure that the people of African origin in the United States, true to their great traditions, especially as the founders of the Pan African movement, can and will make a tremendous contribution.
I appeal to all of them - workers and students, artists and writers, sportsmen, musicians and entertainers - to join with the United Nations, with Africa, and with the African liberation movements to make their rightful contribution.
I plan to devote special efforts for consultations with them on this matter.
I must say that action in this country is crucial because this country has regrettably become the main protector and collaborator of the South African racist regime.
In this country - with one-tenth of its population tracing its origin to Africa - the South African racists can go to the highest centres of power, but the liberation movements, the real representatives of the great majority of the population, have to wait in the corridors.
Only a few days ago, this country relaxed the arms embargo against South Africa - to enable the racist regime to continue its killings of the black people and attacks on independent African States.
Brothers and Sisters,
We have said that the problem in southern Africa is a human problem. It is the concern of all humanity.
We, in the United Nations, are appealing to all nations and all organizations, irrespective of ideological or other differences, to join in the campaign against apartheid. We are grateful to all those who have responded.
We do not want any "cold war" in Africa to detract our attention and make the African people fight each other. We will resist it with all our might.
I say this because there is an attempt here to slander the liberation movements of South Africa and Namibia as linked to communist countries.
The black people know how their leaders like Dr. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were slandered, hounded and persecuted with similar propaganda.
We cannot afford to fall into any trap.
We must work together with courage, with determination, with unity. We must make a covenant to fight together until the continent of Africa is redeemed, until the dignity of all people of African origin is restored - indeed, until racial discrimination in all its manifestations is abolished all over this globe.
That is the teaching of all our religions.
That is our imperative and inescapable duty at this time.
1.Statement at a meeting in the Harlem State Office Building, New York City, in observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Sharpeville Day), organized by the Iota Phi Lambda Sorority and the Organization of African Unity, in co-operation with the United Nations Department of Public Information. Text distributed by the United Nations Centre against Apartheid.