— Advocates global financial justice, African mineral equity, and stronger multilateralism President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for urge...
— Advocates global financial justice, African mineral equity, and stronger multilateralism
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for urgent and comprehensive reforms of the United Nations, warning that the global institution risks growing irrelevance if it continues to lag behind the realities of the modern world.
Speaking at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, President Tinubu — represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima — delivered a policy-heavy address that challenged the current structure of the UN, highlighted global inequalities, and presented Nigeria’s reform proposals for international peace and economic stability.
This was contained in an official statement signed by Stanley Nkwocha, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), and made available to the media on September 24, 2025.
According to the statement, President Tinubu said the slow pace of action on key global issues such as Security Council reform, nuclear disarmament, and conflict resolution had weakened the credibility of the UN system.
“For all our careful diplomatic language, the slow pace of progress on these hardy perennials of the UN General Assembly debate has led some to look away from the multilateral model,” the President said, expressing concern that critical conversations are now taking place outside traditional UN platforms.
President Tinubu renewed Nigeria’s long-standing call for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, stating:
“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.”
He referenced Nigeria’s evolution from a colonised nation to a country of over 236 million people — projected to become the world’s third most populous — with a youthful and dynamic population.
Addressing international conflicts, President Tinubu took a firm stance on the Middle East crisis.
“We say, without stuttering and without doubt, that a two-state solution remains the most dignified path to lasting peace for the people of Palestine,” he declared, criticising what he described as a pattern of diplomatic inaction that continues to fuel global instability.
Tinubu also called for the creation of a new global financial mechanism akin to an international court for sovereign debt, which would help developing nations manage and renegotiate debt burdens.
“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,” he stated.
He urged that debt relief must be seen not as charity, but as a pathway to shared global prosperity.
The President highlighted Africa’s vast mineral resources as central to the technologies of the future, insisting that African nations must benefit fairly from their natural wealth.
“When we export raw materials, as we have been doing, tension, inequality, and instability fester,” he said, adding that local processing, value addition, and job creation are essential for peace and economic equity.
The President also used the global platform to present Nigeria’s current economic reforms as a template for other developing nations, noting that although the path is difficult, the reforms are necessary.
“The government has taken difficult but necessary steps to restructure our economy and remove distortions, including subsidies and currency controls that benefited the few at the expense of the many,” the statement noted.
Concluding the address, President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to peace, multilateralism, and the protection of human rights.
“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,” he warned.
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