President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council, demanding at least two permanent seats for Africa with full rights and responsibilities, including veto power for as long as it exists.
Tinubu made the demand in his address to the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, delivered on his behalf by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
He said the current structure of the Security Council no longer reflected the realities of the world in 2026.
“The reform of this institution must begin with the reconstitution of the Security Council, for the world of 2026 cannot remain captive to the distribution of power in 1945,” Tinubu said.
“Africa cannot continue to fill the Council’s agenda while remaining absent from its permanent membership,” he added.
Tinubu said Nigeria was demanding, in line with the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration, “at least two permanent seats for Africa, with all the rights and responsibilities of permanent membership, including the veto for as long as it exists, and five non-permanent seats in total.”
He added: “The authority to speak for humanity carries an obligation to represent it.”
The President said Nigeria was ready to assume greater responsibility in international peace and security, citing the country’s contributions to peacekeeping and conflict resolution across Africa.
“From Liberia and Sierra Leone to Darfur, Mali and The Gambia, we have committed personnel and resources when international solidarity required action,” he said.
Tinubu said Nigeria would continue to support mediation, democratic governance, counter-terrorism and maritime security through the Economic Community of West African States, African Union and Gulf of Guinea partnerships.
On the global security situation, the President said countries must return to the principles that informed the creation of the United Nations.
“We must therefore return to the founding principles of dialogue, mutual respect and collective responsibility,” he said.
He added that Nigeria “stands by the Charter and its promise of a world in which diplomacy prevails over coercion, cooperation over isolation and international law over the arbitrary exercise of power.”
Tinubu also warned that conflicts in one part of the world could have consequences far beyond the immediate area.
“We inhabit the only planet known to sustain human life, and as long as that scientific fact holds, we cannot pretend that we are insulated from conflicts elsewhere,” he said.
“Geography offers no exemption from the consequences of a fractured world,” he added.
On climate change, Tinubu rejected the idea that developing countries should choose between economic development and environmental protection.
“We reject the false choice between development and climate action,” he said.
According to him, developing countries must be allowed to industrialise, eradicate poverty and expand energy access through low-carbon pathways supported by technology transfer, capacity building and climate finance.
Tinubu noted that Africa contributes less than four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions but bears disproportionate consequences from climate change.
He said Nigeria remained committed to the Paris Agreement and an equitable energy transition that recognises historical responsibility and the different capacities of countries.
“Under our Energy Transition Plan, we are working towards net-zero emissions by 2060 while expanding access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy,” he said.
He said Nigeria’s approach combines renewable energy, clean cooking, gas as a transitional fuel, climate-smart agriculture and nature-based solutions.
“Finance must be governed by equity and shared responsibility rather than charity,” Tinubu said, calling for international climate commitments to be translated into accessible and predictable funding mechanisms.
On artificial intelligence, the President urged countries not to allow fear to prevent them from benefiting from emerging technologies.
“We refuse to surrender our technological future to paranoia,” he said.
“An invention can be destructive or beneficial, depending on the purposes it serves and the judgement of those who use it,” Tinubu added.
Using an analogy, he said: “A knife can take a life in the hands of an assailant and save one in the hands of a surgeon.”
He said artificial intelligence could similarly be used for destructive purposes or deployed to improve healthcare, education, agriculture, governance and economic productivity.
“We can deploy artificial intelligence to wage war or use it to transform healthcare, education, agriculture, governance and economic productivity,” he said.
Tinubu said Nigeria was investing in digital public infrastructure, broadband connectivity, innovation ecosystems, research institutions and technology entrepreneurship.
He invited the international community to work with Nigeria’s young innovators to direct AI towards human development.
“We invite the world to work with our inventive, resourceful and enterprising young people to direct AI towards humanity’s advancement rather than its destruction,” he said.
On development financing, Tinubu said inadequate financing remained one of the major obstacles to sustainable development.
“Many developing countries devote substantial resources to debt servicing at the expense of education, healthcare and infrastructure,” he said.
He therefore called for reforms to the international financial architecture, wider access to concessional financing and debt sustainability frameworks that recognise the developmental needs of poorer countries.
The President also backed innovative financing through private capital, blended finance, South-South cooperation and strategic partnerships.
On African economic integration, Tinubu described the African Continental Free Trade Area as “one of the continent’s most transformative opportunities.”
He said the agreement could strengthen regional value chains, expand intra-African trade, promote industrialisation and attract investment.
“Africa must move beyond its historical role as an exporter of raw materials towards greater value addition, manufacturing, technological innovation and knowledge-driven growth,” he said.
“Our abundant natural resources must become engines of shared prosperity rather than sources of perpetual dependency,” he added.
On terrorism and transnational crime, Tinubu said no country could completely isolate itself from security threats originating beyond its borders.
“No nation, however formidable its defences, can secure itself completely against dangers sustained beyond its borders,” he said.
He identified terrorism, organised crime, cyberattacks and illicit finance as threats that exploit gaps between national responses.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s experience in combating Boko Haram, ISWAP and other armed groups, Tinubu said military action alone could not provide lasting security.
“Military victories require enduring foundations in education, economic opportunity, accountable governance and communities whose rights and dignity are protected,” he said.
“Development cannot take root where violence repeatedly uproots livelihoods, and peace cannot endure where injustice and exclusion replenish the ranks of those who threaten it,” he added.
Tinubu called for greater cooperation in intelligence sharing, institutional capacity building, disrupting terrorism financing and preventing weapons from crossing borders.
He also highlighted the security challenges in the Sahel, saying instability in one territory could threaten neighbouring countries and undermine regional commerce, integration and democratic governance.
On conflicts in Sudan and other war-torn countries, Tinubu called for urgent diplomacy and protection of civilians.
“All parties must uphold international humanitarian and human rights law, protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access,” he said.
He added: “No claim to security can justify starving children, denying relief to civilians or erasing communities from the land they call home.”
The President further warned against the manipulation of information during conflicts.
“We should all be afraid of a world in which we can no longer tell the victim from the aggressor,” he said.
He said diplomacy, dialogue, reconciliation and inclusive political processes remained essential to achieving lasting peace.
“We place our faith in diplomacy because military victories alone cannot secure lasting peace,” Tinubu said.
He urged the United Nations to strengthen peacekeeping while devoting greater resources to peacebuilding, mediation, institution-building and sustainable development.
“Prevention must command greater resources and political attention,” he said.
On Africa’s future, Tinubu said the continent had the potential to become a major driver of global growth.
“Africa is ready for the future,” he declared, citing the continent’s resilience, ingenuity, youthful population, natural wealth and expanding markets.
He said developing countries should be treated as partners in addressing global challenges rather than merely recipients of assistance.
“Developing countries must be recognised as indispensable partners whose contributions to global solutions and shared prosperity extend far beyond their need for assistance,” he said.
Concluding his address, Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to international cooperation.
“Nigeria pledges to choose cooperation over confrontation, dialogue over division, hope over fear and partnership over isolation,” he said.
He urged the UN to build institutions capable of responding to the aspirations of all nations.
“A reformed, inclusive and effective United Nations is indispensable to the peaceful, just and sustainable world that future generations deserve,” Tinubu said.
He concluded: “Whatever our differences, we must remember that humanity is our oldest citizenship, and peace is the inheritance we owe every child.”