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Key Takeaways From Nigeria’s UNGA Address

Published

4 weeks ago

September 25, 2025

Nigeria went into the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA with an ambitious agenda.

Speaking on behalf of the country on Wednesday, Vice-President Kashim Shettima outlined demands that touch on everything from global governance to economic opportunity.

Prior to the debate, Nigeria would press for representation in the UN security council, global finance architecture changes, and address the Palestinian statehood debate.

The Vice President pushed for those reforms, stressing that they were crucial to Africa’s future and the balance of international order.

DAILY POST highlights major takeaways from Shetimma’s speech.

DEMAND FOR UN COUNCIL SEAT

Shettima started his speech by criticising what he described as the “slow pace of progress” at the UN.

He explained that the troubling signs had forced nations to dismiss the fairness of the multilateral institution and charged the global body to make changes that work.

One of the changes, Shettima argued, is Nigeria’s permanent representation at the UN security council.

“A stabilising force in regional security and a consistent partner in global peacekeeping, our case for permanent seat at the Security Council is a demand for fairness, for representation, and for reform that restores credibility to the very institution upon which the hope of multilateralism rests.

“We are despised by terrorists because we choose tolerance over tyranny. Their ambition is to divide us and to poison our humanity with a toxic rhetoric of hate,” he said.

FAIRNESS IN MINERAL MINING

The Vice president frowned at the exploitative mining on the continent, lamenting that they leave African nations impoverished.

Shettima agreed that international investments offer a way out of decay but noted that African countries must also benefit from the process.

“We know in Nigeria, that we are more stable when those communities that have access to key resources are able to benefit from those resources. This has been our journey in the oil producing region of the Niger Delta,” he said.

“I believe that we will strengthen the international order, when those countries that produce strategic minerals benefit fairly from those minerals — in terms of investment, partnership, local processing and jobs,” he said.

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

Shettima also made the case for Africa’s inclusion in technological advancements to bridge the digital divide through the creation of a “dedicated initiative” that would bring researchers, private sector, governments and communities together.

He said, “As we stand on the threshold of new and dramatic technological change, we are still absorbing the impact of the revolution in information and communication of the past 20 years.

“We understand better than we did, the opportunities technology offers as well as the safeguards we need to enable growth and mitigate the potential for corrosion. Some worry about fake news. We have plenty of that, with the potential of devastating real-world consequences in countries rich and poor.”

ESTABLISHMENT OF GLOBAL FINANCE COURT

The second demand was a call for measures that would oversee the restructuring of the global finance architecture.

Shettima said the increasingly difficult security outlook in the world has prompted many countries to count the cost of the emerging world order.

“We in Nigeria are already familiar with such difficult choices: infrastructure renewal or defence platforms? schools or tanks.

“We can take that progress to the next level, a level that presents new opportunities for trade, investment and profit, if we can access reforms to strengthen the international financial architecture,” he added.

CLIMATE CHANGE NOT AN ABSTRACT ISSUE

Shettima took a different position from US President Donald Trump who called climate change the “greatest con job” of all time.

The vice-president asked the UN to re-examine the best use of its scarce resources by addressing climate change.

“It is not an abstract issue about an indeterminate fate, to be settled at some distant point in the future,” he said.

CONDEMNATION OF ISRAEL, SUPPORT FOR PALESTINE

Nigeria has long recognised Palestine as a state since 1988. But at UNGA, Shettima joined the clarion call for a two-state solution.

He condemned Israel’s war in Gaza, saying the tensions scar the wider region.

“We do not believe that the sanctity of human life should be trapped in the corridors of endless debate. That is why 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.

“The people of Palestine are not collateral damage in a civilisation searching for order. They are human beings, equal in worth, entitled to the same freedoms and dignities that the rest of us take for granted,” he stated.

News

CSOs, Academia, Impacted Communities Launch Climate Justice Campaign In Edo

Published

25 minutes ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

In a bid to advancing environmental justice and protecting biodiversity, a Climate Justice Assembly — comprising members of the civil society community, academia, representatives of oil extraction impacted communities, media, etc on Friday launched a campaign tagged #Yasunize and #Ogonize in Benin

The Assembly, convened by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), was themed: Climate Justice Assembly: Yasunize & Ogonize the World for Socio-Ecological Wellbeing.

Speaking at the event, Executive Director, HOMEF, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, said the campaign was “inspired by the struggles of the Ogoni people in Nigeria, who have faced decades of environmental devastation and halted oil extraction in their territory in 1993, and the struggle of the people of Ecuador to stop oil extraction at Yasuní-ITT, one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth. The people of Ecuador voted massively against crude oil extraction at Yasuni ITT in a national referendum in August 2023.”

Bassey added that the “campaign aims to advance environmental justice, protect biodiversity, and build resilience in the face of a changing climate. It is powered by people on the ground – activists, community groups, and allies around the globe – who are demanding that corporations and governments clean up their mess and help communities heal.”

L-R: Former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Edo State, Dr. Osagie Obayuwana; Dr. Ofuani Sokolo, Faculty of Law, University of Benin; A Professor of French Language, University of Benin during the launching on Friday.

The ED explained further that “#Ogonize is more than a campaign; it is a fight for what is right. We want to ensure that communities impacted by environmental disasters are heard, that their land is restored, and that future generations inherit a healthy planet.

“#Yasunize is about rethinking our relationship with nature. It is recognising that some places are too valuable to exploit and that we need to prioritise the health of our planet over short-term profits.”

“Together, #Ogonize and #Yasunize paint a picture of a world where environmental justice and sustainability are not just ideals, but realities.

“They challenge the status quo and insist that protecting the environment and ensuring social fairness go hand-in-hand. These campaigns remind us that real change comes from community-led solutions and global cooperation.”

He urged authorities concerned to ensure those “responsible for environmental damage pay reparations and face legal consequences, while shielding biodiversity hotspots and indigenous territories from harmful activities.”

Bassey also called on the
“governments, organisations, and individuals are invited to join the movement, stand with affected communities, and advocate for policies that prioritise justice and halt ecocide.”

On his part, Executive Director, Miideko Environmental Development Foundation Initiative, Celestine Akpobari, who is an Ogoni man, urged people to expose those carrying out environmental degradation, adding: “If you see anyone destroying our environment and keep silence, you are an accomplished.”

In his goodwill message, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Osagie Obayuwana, urged people not to burn the planet, just as he warned: “We are all threatened; everyone of us is at risk.”

Dr. Ofuani Sokolo, from the Faculty of Law, University of Benin, also spoke on Gender Climate Change and Community Mobilisation, while other academia and CSO members gave goodwill messages.

News

Ovia South West Council Chairman, Edobor Bags National Merit Award

Published

16 hours ago

October 24, 2025

Editor

The Acting Chairman of Ovia South West Local Government Council in Edo State, Hon. Charles Nosakhare Edobor, has bagged the 2025 Nigerian Local Government Merit Award (LOGMA).

He was awarded as the Best Performing Local Government Chairman in Nigeria (Security and infrastructure development, purposeful leadership).

Speaking after being conferred with the prestigious award, Edobor applauded the organizers for recognizing his administration’s commitment to localizing good governance.

He highlighted his leadership’s remarkable strides in building a sustainable, livable, and prosperous council area through numerous people-oriented programmes and projects-particularly in road infrastructure and the provision of basic social amenities.

Edobor dedicated the award to the Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and to the good people of Ovia south west Local Government Area.

He expressed satisfaction with the honour. He emphasized that the award would further spur him to work harder in pursuing people-centred programmes aligned with Senator Monday Okpebholo’s S.H.I.N.E and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Edobor commended Governor Okpebholo for his visionary leadership and unwavering support for local government administrations across the state.

He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to deepening rural development, empowering youth and women, and ensuring the dividends of democracy reach every ward in Ovia south west local government.

Earlier, in his welcome address at the event which held on Wednesday at the National Merit House, Abuja, the National Coordinator of LOGMA, Chief Bayode Ojo, stated that the award was designed to showcase the achievements of local government chairmen and reward excellence in grassroots governance – particularly those who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to promoting grassroots development despite the challenges confronting the third tier of government.

He congratulated all the awardees for making the final list after rigorous scrutiny and spot-checking of some of their executed projects to verify the authenticity of their claims.

Chief Ojo further urged the awardees to continue to be shining examples of sustainable growth at the grassroots and in the country at large.

News

JUST IN: Tinubu Sacks CDS Musa, Names New Army Boss

Published

17 hours ago

October 24, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has made changes in the hierarchy of the Service Chiefs in furtherance of the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture.

The President appointed General Olufemi Oluyede to replace General Christopher Musa as the new Chief of Defence Staff.

More to follow…