Nigeria has said that continued exclusion of Africa from permanent membership of the United Nations (UN) Security Council undermines fairness, credibility and legitimacy of the global governance system.
‘A continent cannot be summoned to bear the burdens of the international order and then denied an equal hand in directing it,’ Nigeria’s Vice-President Kashim Shettima stated.
Shettima, who on Thursday addressed the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) in New York, United States(U.S.), expressed Nigeria’s worry over the development when he visited UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on the sidelines of the event.
He had, on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demanded at least two permanent Security Council seats for Africa. He warned that the world could no longer remain captive to the distribution of permanent seats among only five countries – the U.S., China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom-since 1945.
During the visit to the Nigerian- born UN Deputy Secretary-General, the Vice-President said it was indefensible for Africa not to have an equal voice in directing global affairs.
Reaffirming Nigeria’s push for urgent reform of the UN and other international institutions, Shettima said the structure of global decision-making must reflect contemporary geopolitical and demographic realities.
Shettima, whose comments are contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President) Stanley Nkwocha, however, said Nigeria would remain a partner in efforts to strengthen international law, rebuild trust among nations and address hunger, violence and other global challenges.
He commended UN Secretary-General António Guterres for his consistent advocacy for a more representative Security Council, particularly his position that a 21st-century Council without permanent African representation is ‘unjust and indefensible.’
The Vice-President also praised Guterres for defending international law and human dignity at a time of widening conflicts and heightened geopolitical tensions across the world.
‘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’, Shettima said.
He warned that international diplomacy must not become detached from the human cost of wars, instability, hunger and displacement, insisting that global institutions must ultimately be judged by their response to human suffering.
‘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 said.
According to him, Nigeria will continue to be a dependable partner in the international effort to restore confidence in multilateralism, protect human dignity and confront hunger, violence and 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 added.
Shettima maintained that the credibility of the international system would ultimately depend not only on its capacity to respond fairly to human suffering but also on whether every region of the world is given a meaningful voice in decisions affecting humanity.
‘Civilisation endures only when the suffering of a stranger becomes a claim on our conscience’, the Vice President said.
He also commended Mohammed for her contributions to multilateral diplomacy and sustainable development, describing her service at the UN as a source of pride to Nigeria.
Mrs. Mohammed expressed gratitude to Nigeria and the administration of President Tinubu for their support for the UN and her office.
‘It’s a deep honour to have your esteemed delegation here to come and surprise me. I am truly honoured and grateful.
‘I want to thank 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.
Shettima was accompanied to the meeting by Governors AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Hyacinth Alia (Benue) , Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers) and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara).
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, and other senior government officials were also in attendance.