By Cross Udo, Abuja
Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Africa’s continued exclusion from permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council undermines the fairness and legitimacy of the global governance system.
Shettima reiterated Nigeria’s demand for urgent UN reforms during a meeting with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York.
He said Nigeria would remain committed to efforts aimed at rebuilding trust among nations, defending international law and addressing hunger, conflict and exclusion.
Shettima commended UN Secretary-General António Guterres for supporting a more representative Security Council.
He cited Guterres’ position that a 21st-century Security Council without permanent African representation remained “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.”
The Vice President said the structure of global governance must reflect contemporary geopolitical and demographic realities.
He stressed that international institutions would become more credible when regions affected by global decisions had meaningful representation in determining those decisions.
Shettima also praised Guterres for defending international law and human dignity amid widening conflicts and geopolitical tensions.
“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.”
He said diplomacy should remain focused on the human consequences of wars, displacement and hunger rather than reducing suffering to statistics and political calculations.
“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 reaffirmed Nigeria’s willingness to work with the UN on strengthening multilateralism and restoring confidence in international institutions.
He also commended Mohammed for her contribution to multilateral diplomacy and sustainable development, describing her service at the UN as a source of pride to Nigeria.
“Nigeria will remain a willing ally in the work of restoring trust among nations and dignity to lives diminished by hunger, violence and exclusion.”
The Vice President said the credibility of the international system would ultimately depend on its ability to respond fairly to human suffering and give all regions a meaningful voice in global decision-making.
“Civilisation endures only when the suffering of a stranger becomes a claim on our conscience.”
Earlier, Mohammed expressed appreciation to Nigeria and the Tinubu administration for supporting the United Nations and her office as Deputy Secretary-General.
She described Shettima’s visit as an honour and thanked President Bola Tinubu for his support.
“I want to thank through you the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for embracing me wholeheartedly not just as the DSG but as a daughter of the soil.”
Shettima was accompanied by Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal.
The delegation also included Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, among other senior officials.
