Nigeria is set to renew its campaign for permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council as Vice-President Kashim Shettima leads the country’s engagements at the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Shettima, representing President Bola Tinubu, will use high-level meetings and forums to advance Nigeria’s position on reforming the UN system, securing stronger development outcomes for developing countries, and attracting greater international investment into the country.
The priorities for Nigeria’s engagement at the UNGA were outlined after Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, briefed Shettima on the country’s agenda and strategic engagements. The delegation will build on positions Nigeria had advanced during previous UN engagements, particularly its advocacy for reforms capable of making multilateral institutions more representative and responsive to developing countries.
Nigeria’s renewed campaign for a permanent seat on the Security Council comes against the backdrop of long-standing calls by African countries for the restructuring of the UN’s most powerful decision-making body. The 15-member Security Council currently has five permanent members, all of which possess veto powers, and 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Africa, despite having 54 UN member states and being a major focus of the council’s peace and security agenda, does not have a permanent seat.
The broader African campaign seeks permanent representation for the continent on the Security Council as part of a wider reform of the UN system. The question of whether and how African representation should be structured remains part of the continuing intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform. Nigeria has consistently supported the African Union’s position that the continent’s historical exclusion from permanent membership is no longer consistent with contemporary geopolitical realities.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has backed permanent African representation on the Security Council, calling for an overhaul of global financial institutions and an end to the extraction and export of Africa’s critical minerals without sufficient local value addition. Guterres described the absence of permanent African seats on the Security Council as “indefensible”, stressing that the world had changed significantly since the establishment of the UN in 1945.
The renewed Nigerian campaign also coincides with Guterres’ call for a fundamental change in the way Africa’s natural resources, particularly critical minerals, are exploited. He argued that Africa’s vast natural wealth should create jobs, skills, industries, and broader economic opportunities for Africans instead of being extracted and processed elsewhere. Guterres also called for reforms to the international financial architecture, arguing that global financial institutions need to become more responsive to developing countries.
Nigeria will use the high-level UNGA engagements to attract international investment into strategic sectors, including solid minerals, energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and technology, while advancing its positions on peace and security, climate action, development, and global financial reform. The country’s delegation will convey President Tinubu’s positions across several high-level forums during the General Assembly, with Shettima presenting the President’s message across different sectors, including Nigeria’s push for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Key points
- Nigeria renews campaign for permanent UN Security Council seat at 81st UN General Assembly
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres backs permanent African representation on the Security Council
- Nigeria seeks to attract international investment into strategic sectors, including solid minerals, energy, and infrastructure.
