NEW YORK, USA — Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, urged the United Nations to grant Nigeria a permanent seat on the Security Council and pressed for urgent sovereign debt relief, as he addressed the 80th session of the General Assembly in New York.
Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the annual debate, argued that the UN must reform to reflect present-day realities and avoid losing relevance.
“The United Nations will recover its relevance only when it reflects the world as it is, not as it was,” he said.
“Today, we are a sovereign nation of over 236 million, projected to be the third most populous country in the world… our case for a permanent seat at the Security Council is a demand for fairness, for representation, and for reform that restores credibility.”
Shettima also called for structural changes to the global financial system to allow developing economies to escape what he described as “the economic straitjacket of primary production.”
He urged the creation of a binding mechanism to manage sovereign debt, likening it to “a sort of International Court of Justice for money.”
“We need urgent action to promote debt relief — not as an act of charity but as a clear path to the peace and prosperity that benefits us all,” he said.
Highlighting Nigeria’s history of contributions to global security, Shettima noted that the country had participated in 51 of the UN’s 60 peacekeeping operations since independence in 1960.
He said Nigeria’s fight against insurgency demonstrated that “military tactics may win battles measured in months and years, but in wars that span generations, it is values and ideas that deliver the ultimate victory.”
On the Middle East, Shettima reaffirmed Nigeria’s support for a two-state solution.
“We say, without stuttering and without doubt, that a two-state solution remains the most dignified path to lasting peace for the people of Palestine,” he told delegates.
The vice-president underscored the importance of ensuring that countries rich in natural resources benefit from them.
Referring to Nigeria’s experience in the Niger Delta, he said: “When we export raw materials, as we have been doing, tension, inequality and instability fester.”
Shettima further proposed a global initiative to close the digital divide, stressing that technological change should not widen inequality.
“As our friend the Secretary-General has said: ‘A.I. must stand for Africa Included,’” he remarked.
In closing, Shettima reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to multilateralism and human rights.
“For none of us is safe until all of us are safe,” he said.
“I believe that a renewed commitment to multilateralism, not as a slogan but as an article of faith, remains our surest path forward.”
