PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan  consistent appeal for the control of small arms may have gotten the nod of the United Nations as eleven Central African countries are set to sign a new convention on the control of small arms, light weapons this week.
On his first visit to the United States on invitation by President Barrack Obama on Nuclear Security talks, the Nigerian President in virtually all his speeches during the tour spoke elaborately on the urgent need to  control the dumping  of small arms and light ammunition in Africa.
Carrying the campaign further, at the G8 meeting in Canada, President Jonathan denounced the dumping of small arms and light weapons in Africa by developed countries, calling it one of the major causes of underdevelopment in the continent.
“The excessive dumping of small arms and light weapons in Africa is one of the major factors that retard the economic growth of the continent.
“I have said it severally that we don’t manufacture these small arms and light weapons. They are manufactured by the developed societies but dumped in Africa and they have become a major source of our own underdevelopment.”
He said the “excessive and free use of small arms and light weapons” had become so prevalent in southern Nigeria that the commercial city of Aba “was almost closed down for weeks without economic activities.”
“That tells you that in a place where you don?t have peace, you can?t have economic activities that can stimulate wealth creation,” Jonathan said.
He linked the spread of such weapons to political instability as well. “That is why you see a lot of military organizations struggling to topple governments in Africa,” Jonathan said.
“Where the governments are relatively stable, they use them (weapons) for criminal activities like piracy, trans-border crimes, armed robberies, and causing general insecurity, and even kidnappings.
“If these things are allowed to continue, then of course, economic development of the African continent will continue to recede instead of advancing,” Jonathan said
In a swift reaction, the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa will hold its thirty-first ministerial meeting in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, from 15 to 19 November.  The highlight of the meeting will be the opening for signature of the Central African Convention for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition, Parts and Components that can be used for their Manufacture, Repair and Assembly, also called the Kinshasa Convention.
This Convention, adopted in April and elaborated by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa, reflects the latest developments in the control of small arms and light weapons, as well as the specificities of the subregion.
In the framework of the ministerial meeting, the 11 member States of the Advisory Committee — Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe — are expected to adopt the Implementation Plan of the Convention, which will allow the States to take the measures necessary for the control of small arms and light weapons at the earliest, as soon as the Convention enters into force.  The States will also share their experiences in the implementation of the Code of Conduct for the Defence and Security Forces in Central Africa, adopted by the Committee in 2009.  Together, the Convention and the Code of Conduct form the “Sao Tome Initiative”, adopted by the Committee in May 2007.
The agenda of the ministerial meeting in Brazzaville includes other topics, such as recent developments in the geopolitical and security situation in the subregion, maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as the promotion of disarmament and arms limitation programmes in Central Africa. 
Nigeria is a regional power in west Africa where the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) last year banned arms transfers by member states to non-state actors without the approval of the importing country.