President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for a radical reform of the United Nations, insisting that the process must begin with restructuring the Security Council to give Africa permanent representation.
He warned that Africa cannot continue to dominate the Council’s agenda while remaining excluded from its permanent membership, stressing that the world of 2026 cannot remain hostage to the power arrangement of 1945.
The President’s position was delivered by Vice President Kashim Shettima during the General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Tinubu demanded at least two permanent seats for Africa with full rights, responsibilities and veto power for as long as it exists, along with a total of five non-permanent seats, in line with the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.
“The reform of this institution must begin with the reconstitution of the Security Council, for the world of 2026 cannot remain captive to the distribution of power in 1945. Africa cannot continue to fill the Council’s agenda while remaining absent from its permanent membership,” he said.
“Nigeria demands, in accordance with the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, at least two permanent seats for Africa, with all the rights and responsibilities of permanent membership, including the veto for as long as it exists, and five non-permanent seats in total. The authority to speak for humanity carries an obligation to represent it.”
The Nigerian leader also called for an immediate end to global warfare and a rejection of rising unilateralism and nationalism, warning that the global order is at a critical point.
He urged world leaders to return to the founding principles of the UN Charter — dialogue, mutual respect and collective responsibility — and to build a renewed commitment to multilateralism.
“The persistence of conflict across the world recalls the purpose for which the United Nations was founded: to spare succeeding generations the devastation of war. We must therefore return to the founding principles of dialogue, mutual respect and collective responsibility.
“Nigeria stands by the Charter and its promise of a world in which diplomacy prevails over coercion, cooperation over isolation and international law over the arbitrary exercise of power,” Tinubu said.
He cited Nigeria’s peacekeeping contributions in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Darfur, Mali and The Gambia as evidence of its readiness to take on greater responsibility for peace in Africa, adding that through ECOWAS, the African Union and Gulf of Guinea partnerships, Nigeria continues to promote mediation, democratic governance, counter-terrorism and maritime security.
On development, Tinubu said Nigeria is implementing its sustainable development commitments through disciplined macroeconomic management, strong institutions, private-sector-led growth and strategic public investment, noting that domestic progress is meaningless if external threats are ignored.
He also called for urgent global action on climate change, rejecting the false choice between development and climate action. While reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and its Energy Transition Plan targeting net-zero emissions by 2060, he stressed that Africa bears a heavy climate burden despite contributing less than 4% of global emissions and must be supported with technology transfer and climate finance to industrialise and expand energy access.
On technology, the President said Nigeria will not allow fear to dictate its future, noting that the country is expanding its digital public infrastructure, accelerating broadband rollout and supporting tech entrepreneurship to harness Artificial Intelligence for human advancement.
Tinubu renewed Nigeria’s call for reform of the international financial architecture, demanding wider access to concessional financing and a debt sustainability framework that recognises development needs. He noted that inadequate financing remains a major obstacle to sustainable development, as many developing nations spend a large portion of their resources on debt servicing at the expense of education, healthcare and infrastructure.
Drawing from Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram, ISWAP and other armed groups, he said no nation can secure itself completely against threats sustained beyond its borders, adding that terrorism and cyberattacks exploit gaps in global cooperation and that lasting security requires education, economic opportunity, accountable governance and human rights.
He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to peaceful settlement of disputes, calling for urgent diplomacy to address the conflicts in Sudan and other war-torn countries.
“We should all be afraid of a world in which we can no longer tell the victim from the aggressor. When our investment in propaganda shields perpetrators from justice to the point that telling the truth becomes a crime, the promise of this institution stands betrayed,” he said.
“A reformed, inclusive and effective United Nations is indispensable to the peaceful, just and sustainable world that future generations deserve. Whatever our differences, we must remember that humanity is our oldest citizenship, and peace is the inheritance we owe every child.”
