President Tinubu has demanded a sweeping UN reforms and called for Nigeria’s permanent security council seat.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that President Bola Tinubu has challenged the United Nations to embrace urgent reforms or risk sliding into irrelevance, warning that its credibility is at stake amid growing global crises.
Delivering Nigeria’s statement at the 80th UN General Assembly in New York through Vice President Kashim Shettima, Tinubu accused the UN of failing humanity on issues ranging from Middle East conflicts to nuclear disarmament, trade injustice, and peacekeeping shortcomings.
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Tinubu demanded a permanent UN Security Council seat for Nigeria and other African nations, insisting that the body must reflect “the world as it is, not as it was.” He also called for:
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A new global debt mechanism – an “International Court of Justice for money” to help struggling nations escape crippling debt.
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Fair control of Africa’s critical minerals, ensuring investment, local processing, and jobs rather than raw material exploitation.
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Bridging the digital divide, declaring that “AI must mean Africa Included.”
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A two-state solution for Palestine, stressing that Palestinians “are not collateral damage but human beings equal in dignity.”
Tinubu highlighted Nigeria’s own tough economic reforms—ending subsidies and currency controls—as a model of resilience, while stressing that defeating extremism requires “values and ideas, not just military tactics.”
The President reaffirmed Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to multilateralism, human rights, and peace, warning: “If we fail to act, the direction of travel is already predictable.”