UNGA 79th: Tinubu Asks for Nigeria To Have A Permanent Spot On The Security Council

In order to increase the UN Security Council’s legitimacy and relevance, President Bola Tinubu has asked the organization to grant Nigeria and other African nations permanent seats.

During the General Debate of the ongoing 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, United States, President Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, made these remarks in an address to world leaders.

He stated, “Some permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have offered encouraging, if tentative indications of support on the issue of reform of the Council. We applaud the shift in tone and demand that the process pick up speed.

The permanent and non-permanent member categories of the Security Council ought to be increased in order to better represent the diversity and plurality of the global community. In this context, we wholeheartedly endorse Secretary-General Guterres’ efforts.

“Africa needs to be treated with the dignity it merits in the Security Council. With the same rights and obligations as other Permanent Members, our continent is deserving of a seat in the Security Council’s category of permanent members.

In addition, President Tinubu urged world leaders to renew their commitment to multilateralism by strengthening ties between UN members in accordance with the values of inclusivity, equality, and collaboration.

He asserted that this is the best assurance of international action against existential threats to the world community.

At the annual high-level global event, President Tinubu, accompanied by Vice President Kashim Shettima, his deputy, bemoaned the sharp decline into singularity and nationalism, which he claimed were undermining efforts to find a peaceful and cooperative solution to the world’s problems, which included terrorism, climate change, poverty, food crises, hyper-inflation, nuclear proliferation, and a crushing debt load.

The head of Nigeria recalled to the world’s leaders that the UN is a symbol of multilateralism, inclusion, and peace, sustainable development, and human rights.

He voiced concern about the UN’s core goals and how it would maintain the organization’s relevance and resilience, pointing out that the organization’s tenets of inclusivity, equality, and cooperation are in danger of being violated.

“These pillars of our organization are threatened today,” he claimed. The unwavering pursuit of particular national priorities, as opposed to the requirements of the nations gathered here today, runs the risk of shattering them.

“While nationalism and singularity are eroding the aspirations towards the peaceful and collective resolution of such difficulties, dedication to multilateralism offers us the surest guarantee of global action to confront the existential crises we face.

“We have discussed the many issues of terrorism, armed conflict, inequality, poverty, racial discrimination, human rights violations, food crises, hunger, irregular migration, piracy, global pandemics, hyper-inflation, nuclear proliferation, crushing debt burden, climate change, and a host of other annoyances since last year’s summit, as well as from previous years.

The fact that these difficulties persist speaks more about our shortcomings than any great accomplishments on our side. Millions of dollars are being spent on waging war and stoking the flames of hostilities.”

“Nigeria’s steadfast commitment to the deepening of multilateralism,” as it did when it “joined the United Nations as the 99th Member-State,” was reiterated by him.

As stated by our founding Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, “we remain committed to that desire to remain friendly with all nations and participate actively in the works of the United Nations.”

In some African nations, President Tinubu also bemoaned the “return of unconstitutional changes of government and forceful military coups,” pointing out that these coups demonstrate how brittle democracy can become in the absence of sustained peace and security, economic growth, and security.

The strong governmental transitions have caused “the impatience in cities and villages at the sometimes slow and grinding turn of the wheel of democracy,” he claimed, and this should be of the utmost concern in discussions at the high-level segments of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly.

“Our folks require work. They require respectable jobs. For their families and children, they want access to high-quality, reasonably priced healthcare and education. They must reside in situations that are safe, secure, and healthy. They require opportunity and hope,” he continued.

In addition, President Tinubu urged changes to the global financial system and an open multilateral trading framework, expressing optimism that “the adoption of the “Pact for the Future” will change the narrative, realign economies, and result in tangible steps that address the issues that developing and least developed nations face.

“We reiterate the call by countries, particularly those in the global South, for reform of the international financial architecture and promotion of an open, fair, inclusive, equitable, transparent, rules-based multilateral trading system for these and other reasons,” he said.

The Nigerian leader warned the UN about the risks of straying from multilateralism and brought up issues such as the mounting national debt that makes it difficult for governments and nations to provide for their citizens, trade restrictions and protectionist measures that undermine national aspirations, and unbridled competition that deters people from striving and inhibits international investment.

He specifically requested that the UN give Nigeria and other developing nations’ debt forgiveness from creditors and multilateral financial institutions first priority.

In a same vein, in order to enable sustainable finance for development, we must guarantee that any reform of the international financial system incorporates extensive debt relief measures. Global South nations cannot advance economically significantly without special accommodations and an assessment of their existing debt loads, the speaker said.

The head of Nigeria demanded that the money obtained through corruption and illegal financial transfers be returned to the nations from whence it originated, arguing that this is “a fundamental principle of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.”

He said, “Therefore, in order to recover and return stolen assets and to eliminate safe havens that facilitate illicit flows of funds from developing countries to the developed economies, the international community must promote practical measures to strengthen international cooperation.”

Regarding insecurity, President Tinubu stated that the threat is subjecting people to unspeakable suffering and hardship, which in turn undermines people’s faith in democracy. He emphasized that it is the responsibility of the international community to restore people’s faith in democratic governance and constitutional order.

“With the threat of terrorism, banditry, and insurgency growing in our countries and regions, we cannot build durable societies.” Indeed, the peace, security, and development of both national and international arenas continue to be gravely threatened by violent extremism. To minimize and lessen this threat, we are working together,” he stated.

The “High-Level African Counter-Terrorism Meeting hosted by Nigeria in April 2024 and its outcome,” however, is what President Tinubu promised. “The Abuja Declaration” claims to have answers for the problems posed by rebels and terrorists.

Along with recalling the terrible flood that ravaged much of Nigeria, “including one of our largest cities, Maiduguri, in the North-East,” he also issued a warning about the dangers of climate change, calling it a driver of insecurity and a real challenge to sustainable development.

As no nation is exempt from the effects of climate change, the Nigerian leader pleaded with the international community to uphold the fulfillment of the promises made at the different COP summits. Failure to do so would be tantamount to delaying the inevitable.

The President expressed regret that the task of preventing these conflicts has become difficult since they have become more commonplace, noting that the UN was founded primarily to prevent conflicts “when even the condemnation of violence and civilian casualties, and calls for a ceasefire, are somehow regarded as controversial.”

In addition to citing the violence in Sudan and the fighting in Gaza and other Palestinian territories, he identified other core causes of hostilities, such as poverty, hunger, illiteracy, inequality, and isolation.