UN General Assembly
1967

134. One of those recommendations is the holding of special Security Council meetings as provided for in Article 28, paragraph 2, of the United Nations Charter; that is to say meetings at which any member, if it so desires, may be represented by a member of the Government or some other specially designated representative. The Secretary-General’s hope is that representation at a higher than ambassadorial level would enable the Council to discuss broader issues, achieve a greater meeting of minds and foster a consensus approach to matters [ibid., paras. 157-159]. Nigeria, as a current member of the Council, supports the Secretary-General’s proposal in principle and will co-operate in implementing it if the Council as a whole is agreeable. At the same time, we wish to make the comment that the crux of the problem of decision-making in the Security Council is inflexibility of positions taken by individual representatives on the instructions of their respective Governments. If the Foreign Ministers or other specially designated representatives who attend special Security Council meetings come there to advocate inflexible positions on behalf of their Governments, the Secretary-General's hope of a breakthrough will be frustrated and the game will not have been worth the candle.