Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- I THE CHANGING COMMONWEALTH
- II DEMOCRACY
- III THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE MAKING OF THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA
- IV SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
- V DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA
- VI NIGERIA IN TRANSITION
- VII PEACE AND SECURITY IN A PLURALISTIC WORLD
- VIII TOWARDS A COMMON HUMANITY
- NOTES TO THE TEXT
- ANNEXES I Basic Data on Commonwealth Member Countries
- ANNEXES II Map of the Commonwealth
- ANNEXES III Commonwealth Membership of Regional Organisations
- LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
- INDEX
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I - THE CHANGING COMMONWEALTH
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- I THE CHANGING COMMONWEALTH
- II DEMOCRACY
- III THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE MAKING OF THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA
- IV SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
- V DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA
- VI NIGERIA IN TRANSITION
- VII PEACE AND SECURITY IN A PLURALISTIC WORLD
- VIII TOWARDS A COMMON HUMANITY
- NOTES TO THE TEXT
- ANNEXES I Basic Data on Commonwealth Member Countries
- ANNEXES II Map of the Commonwealth
- ANNEXES III Commonwealth Membership of Regional Organisations
- LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
- INDEX
Summary
A Commonwealth of Opportunities
Diplomatic and Commonwealth Writers Association, London
25 July 1990
In one of his first engagements after taking office as Secretary-General, he speaks to the DCWA of the changes in the world that coincided with the beginning of his tenure: the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the release of Nelson Mandela from prison; both events, he said “were about the triumph of the human spirit over the walls of confinement” …
It is a very great pleasure to me to be the beneficiary of your hospitality today, at what is one of the first speaking engagements of my term of office as Secretary-General. It is typical of the media to be quick off the mark! The last time that I saw and spoke to many of you was immediately following my election as Secretary-General by Commonwealth Heads of Government last October in Kuala Lumpur. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to spend a large part of the intervening months in my home village in Nigeria, a sojourn from which I have only very recently returned. There, more than most places, I could escape, if I wished, from the immediate concerns of world affairs and reflect on the tasks and responsibilities ahead. There were some who raised their eyebrows at such an absence—especially given that there is no dole system in Nigeria—but of course the notion of the retreat is very much in the Commonwealth tradition.
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- The Missing HeadlinesSelected Speeches, pp. 1 - 84Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 1997
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