Nigeria Demands Permanent Seat on UNSC and Calls for Global Financial Justice

Representing Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima delivered an address at #UNGA80 centered on institutional reforms and financial justice. Since its creation after the World War II, the United Nations has barely evolved in step with the tremendous changes that have taken place since. The UN must thus adapt or perish.

“Nigeria must have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. This should take place as part of a wider process of institutional reform. The United Nations will recover its relevance only when it reflects the world as it is, not as it was… I am calling for a new and binding mechanism to manage sovereign debt — a sort of International Court of Justice for money — that will allow emerging economies to escape the economic straitjacket of primary production of unprocessed exports.”

Nigeria VP Kashim Shettima

Shettima called for a new global financial architecture with the creation of an international court for sovereign debt operating under the principles of fairness and justice. The court will intervene between nations in order to renegotiate their debt burdens. Financing must provide a pathway to shared prosperity, instead of saddling economies with unviable debt burdens.

Despite being an oil-rich country, many Nigerians still linger below the line of poverty. Therefore, Nigeria has started instituting reforms that go in the direction that will benefit more local communities. In view of the global #decarbonization drive, Nigeria is considering to leverage its green mineral wealth as well.

In that regard, Nigeria believes that local value addition (#LVA), local beneficiation and local job creation are essential for peace, stability, and economic equity. All African nations must benefit fairly from their natural wealth.

Nigeria has initiated the difficult but necessary reforms to restructure its economy by removing distortions, including subsidies and currency controls, that benefited the few at the expense of the many. “We must make real change — change that works, and change that is seen to work. If we fail, the direction of travel is already predictable,” stated Shettima.