Follow Us on Google
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Vice President Kashim Shettima has challenged the global order that expects Africa to shoulder the burdens of international peace and security while denying the continent permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council.
He said the continued exclusion of Africa from the council’s permanent membership undermined the legitimacy of global governance, calling for urgent reforms to give the continent a meaningful voice in decisions affecting international peace, security and development.
Shettima stated this during a meeting with the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to reforming the global institution.
The Vice President argued that Africa’s exclusion from permanent membership was increasingly difficult to reconcile with the realities of contemporary international relations, insisting that a continent expected to contribute to global stability should also have a meaningful role in shaping decisions, according to a statement by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha.
“A continent cannot be summoned to bear the burdens of the international order and then denied an equal hand in directing it,” he said.
Shettima commended UN Secretary-General António Guterres for his sustained advocacy for a more representative Security Council, particularly his declaration that a 21st-century council without permanent African representation was “unjust and indefensible.”
He said Nigeria would continue to support reforms aimed at making international institutions more representative, responsive and credible, arguing that the composition of global decision-making bodies must reflect present-day geopolitical and demographic realities.
The Vice President’s remarks came amid renewed calls for restructuring the UN Security Council to address longstanding concerns about the representation of Africa and other underrepresented regions in the international body’s most powerful decision-making organ.
Beyond the question of representation, Shettima also called attention to the need to uphold international law and protect human dignity amid growing geopolitical tensions and conflicts across the world.
He praised Guterres for defending the principles of the UN Charter, particularly at a time when, according to him, some countries were drifting away from their international obligations.
“You have remained a voice of reason as individual states drift from the obligations they assumed under the United Nations Charter and the rules of international law.
“You have insisted that sovereignty carries duties, that might confers no licence to injure, and that the worth of a human life cannot vary with the flag above it,” he said.
The Vice President warned that international diplomacy risked losing its moral purpose if world leaders failed to recognise the human consequences of armed conflicts, forced displacement and hunger.
He said the plight of vulnerable people should remain central to discussions on international security, rather than being reduced to statistics or abstract diplomatic arguments.
“The mother searching for her child, the family driven from home and the hungry child awaiting food must never become abstractions in the language of states,” Shettima said.
He maintained that the credibility of the international system would ultimately depend on its ability to respond fairly to human suffering and ensure that every region had a meaningful voice in global decision-making.
Reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to multilateral cooperation, Shettima said the country would remain a dependable partner in efforts to rebuild trust among nations and address challenges ranging from hunger and violence to exclusion.
“Nigeria will remain a willing ally in the work of restoring trust among nations and dignity to lives diminished by hunger, violence and exclusion. We owe our children a world in which conscience has authority and the law has meaning,” he said.
He added that international cooperation must be guided by shared responsibility and a recognition that human suffering anywhere should concern the international community.
“Civilisation endures only when the suffering of a stranger becomes a claim on our conscience,” he said.
Earlier, Mohammed expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian government for their continued support for the United Nations and her work as the organisation’s Deputy Secretary-General.
She described the support she had received from the President as both a personal encouragement and a demonstration of Nigeria’s commitment to the multilateral institution.
“It’s a deep honour to have your esteemed delegation here to come and surprise me. I am truly honoured and grateful,” she said.
Mohammed particularly thanked Tinubu and Shettima for embracing her in her international assignment, describing the President as a strong supporter of both her office and the United Nations.
“I want to thank, through you, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and you for embracing me wholeheartedly, not just as the DSG but as a daughter of the soil.
“He has been an incredible support to me, and he has also supported this institution,” she said.
The meeting formed part of Nigeria’s diplomatic engagements on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly, with the country’s delegation reiterating its support for reforms to strengthen international cooperation and make global institutions more inclusive.
Shettima was accompanied by the governors of Kwara, Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq; Benue, Hyacinth Alia; Rivers, Siminalayi Fubara; and Zamfara, Dauda Lawal.
Also on the delegation were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, among other senior government officials.
