Vice President Kashim Shettima has reiterated Nigeria’s call for comprehensive reform of the United Nations (UN), warning that Africa’s continued exclusion from permanent membership on the UN Security Council compromises the fairness and authority of global governance.
Shettima made the remarks during a bilateral meeting with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York.
Addressing the historic imbalance, the Vice President aligned Nigeria’s position with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who previously characterized an executive council lacking permanent African representation as “unjust and indefensible.”
“A continent cannot be summoned to bear the burdens of the international order and then denied an equal hand in directing it,” Shettima said, emphasizing that international bodies must adapt to contemporary geopolitical and demographic realities.
He further cautioned against losing sight of the human cost of conflict and economic hardship in global diplomacy. “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,” he remarked, adding that “civilisation endures only when the suffering of a stranger becomes a claim on our conscience.”
Shettima commended Guterres for defending international law and human dignity during an era of mounting geopolitical friction, while also lauding Amina Mohammed for her distinguished service to multilateral diplomacy, calling her contributions a point of pride for Nigeria.
In her response, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed expressed gratitude to the Nigerian delegation, acknowledging the support extended to her office and the global body by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“It is a deep honour to have your esteemed delegation here,” Mohammed said. “I want to thank President Bola Tinubu and you for embracing me wholeheartedly, not just as the DSG, but as a daughter of the soil.”
The high-level Nigerian delegation accompanying the Vice President included Governors Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers), and Lawal Dauda (Zamfara), alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim. (NAN)
