Ali Ahmed Mahmood
Nigeria’s presence at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was not only profound; it was transformative. The world’s diplomatic epicentre, convened once again in New York, bore witness to a reawakening of Nigeria’s global vision, articulated with statesmanship and moral clarity by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and eloquently delivered by his distinguished Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima. It was a masterclass in international statesmanship. With measured cadence and rhetorical finesse, Vice President Shettima delivered the President’s national statement with a compelling gravitas that demanded attention and respect. His poise, intellectual clarity, and emotional cadence elevated Nigeria’s address beyond the realm of diplomacy; it became a rallying cry for reform, justice, and. shared prosperity in a fractured world order.
In that moment, Nigeria stood not just as Africa’s most populous democracy, but as a moral voice calling for overdue transformation in the architecture of global governance. President Tinubu, through the Vice President’s peerless delivery, urged the United Nations to reform itself, to move beyond the historical residue of a post-World War II geopolitical structure and embrace a new, multipolar reality where Africa is not a footnote, but a formidable force. Nigeria, he argued persuasively, is no longer a colonial subject but a sovereign nation of 236 million people, projected to become the third most populous country in the world, a stabilising force in its region, and a consistent peacekeeper in the global community. The President’s demand for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council was not a mere diplomatic request, it was a moral imperative grounded in demographic logic, historical contribution, and the aspirations of a continent too long marginalized.