By Tunde Rahman
A major human foible is the tendency to pursue symbolism at the expense of substance. It is not a particularly Nigerian flaw. But the desperation that has characterised our politics, especially amongst the opposition, often makes it seem so.
An example is the criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s inability to personally attend the recently-concluded 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 80).
Meetings are memorable, not just for the faces present, but also for the things said. Those who take unnecessary umbrage should look for something else to do with their time.
The point should not be about the President’s presence or absence at the UNGA annual global event; it should be about the content, the quality of the country’s national statement and the President’s message at that extraordinary gathering of world leaders.
Held under the theme, “Global Partnerships, Local Prosperity,” this year’s session of the United Nations provided a platform for Nigeria’s leaders to promote reforms, woo investors, and assert Africa’s place in global decision-making, international finance and trade.
Vice President Kashim Shettima led the Federal Government delegation to the talks. As he did last year at the behest of President Tinubu, the vice president was in his best elements as he delivered Nigeria’s national statement on Wednesday, September 24, on that global platform.
In that national statement, President Tinubu restated his advocacy over which he had been vocal and consistent: reform of the world body to include a permanent seat for Africa, particularly Nigeria, at the UN Security Council; nuclear disarmament; equitable access to global trade and finance; debt forgiveness; and climate justice, among others.
President Tinubu is passionate about these issues and never misses any opportunity to highlight them. The President has utilised every forum, including the 78th UNGA, which he attended a few months after his inauguration in 2023, and the Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2024, to advocate for these demands strongly. He restated them in the message delivered by Vice President Shettima in 2024 at the 79th session of UNGA and in his message to a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in 2024 in Kampala, Uganda, among others.
President Tinubu must underscore these issues repeatedly in a bid to promote global peace, stability, and economic growth. The continental imbalance in representation at the UN, the imbalance in international trade among the regions, the Israeli genocide in Gaza, wars and threats of war in some parts of the world, among other agonising global issues, deserve to be stated, restated and frontally tackled.
Delivering Nigeria’s national statement, Vice President Shettima said: “We are here to strengthen the prospect for peace, development, and human rights. Madam President, I would like to make four points today to outline how we can achieve this. First, Nigeria must have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. This should take place as part of a wider process of institutional reform. Second, we need urgent action to promote sovereign debt relief and access to trade and financing. Third, the countries that host minerals must benefit from those minerals. And fourth, the digital divide must close. As our Presidential Secretary-General has said, AI must stand for Africa Included.”
Expatiating on this, he said the United Nations would recover its relevance only when it reflects the world as it is, not as it was. “Nigeria’s journey tells this story with clarity. When the UN was founded, we were a colony of 20 million people, absent from the tables where decisions about our fate were taken. Today, we are a sovereign nation of 236 million people, projected to be the third most populous country in the world, with one of the youngest and most dynamic populations on Earth, a stabilising force in regional security, and a consistent partner in global peace-making.”
The Vice President followed up his presentation with a meeting with the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, where he further reiterated the demands.
Given the UN Secretary-General’s temperament and positive posture towards reforms, Nigeria’s demands must have struck a resonant chord. Elected Secretary-General in October 2016, succeeding Ban Ki-moon, Guterres reformed the UN and addressed multiple global refugee crises.
On the sidelines of the 80th UN session, Vice President Shettima addressed a Global Champions Roundtable on Housing, led bilateral talks with investors on agriculture, solid minerals, and technology, and engaged with Nigerians living in the United States.
Two other important side events, among others, took place on the sidelines of UNGA 80 leaders’ talks. One was put together by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, to showcase investment opportunities in Nigeria and demonstrate that the country is ready for business. The other, the 2nd Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) High-Level Roundtable on Critical Minerals Development in Africa, which Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, chaired, stood out this year.
The vice president attended both events and delivered important statements on behalf of President Tinubu.
At the first event, the consensus was that Nigeria has become one of the best places to invest, given its reform momentum and investment profile—namely, a large consumer market of over 200 million people, an over $280 billion economy, the largest in West Africa, and a 4.23% GDP growth rate that is still accelerating, among other things.
President Tinubu, in a message delivered by VP Shettima, canvassed a total re-drawing of the global financial architecture for Africa’s mineral resources, saying it was time for its nations to begin not only financing their mineral sector but also asserting their influence and power in the global supply chains of African products.
According to the President, this has become necessary if the sovereignty of African nations is to be protected. He recommended collective action by development allies and partners to bring Africa’s mineral economy to reality for the benefit of the continent and its people.
It was just as imperative for Alake, Solid Minerals’ minister and AMSG’s chair. He called for cohesion among African nations, saying that with a determined focus and a reinvigorated sense of partnership and transparency in the minerals sector, Africa will harness the benefits of a sustained, deepened, and well-harmonised mineral sector in all ramifications. “These resources are indispensable for global sustainable development and remain catalysts for Africa’s rapid industrialisation,” he said.
Indeed, from the intermittent applause that greeted the delivery of Nigeria’s national statement on the floor of the UN General Assembly and the overwhelmingly favourable response to the country’s presentations and positions on issues canvassed at the side events held on the margins of the conference, there was little doubt that Nigeria’s messages resonated well at UNGA 80. That is indeed what matters, not whether President Tinubu physically attended.
*Rahman is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Special Duties.