UNGA 81: Africa deserves permanent seat on UN Security Council — Shettima
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has said Africa’s continued exclusion from permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council undermines the legitimacy and fairness of the global governance system.
Shettima spoke on Friday in New York during a meeting with UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
The Vice-President reaffirmed Nigeria’s support for urgent reform of the UN, saying the country would continue to support efforts to make international institutions more representative, responsive and credible.
He commended UN Secretary-General António Guterres for advocating a more representative Security Council, particularly his position that the absence of permanent African representation on a 21st-century Council was “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.
He said global decision-making should better reflect contemporary geopolitical and demographic realities, while praising Guterres for defending international law and human dignity amid increasing 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.
Shettima said diplomacy must also remain focused on the human consequences of conflicts, including displacement, hunger and loss of lives.
