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Key Takeaways From Nigeria’s UNGA Address
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.
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“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.
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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.
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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
Otuaro Pledges To Expand PAP Scholarship As Beneficiaries Bag Master’s Degrees From UK Varsities
Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr. Dennis Otuaro, has expressed his unwavering commitment to expanding the PAP scholarship scheme.
The PAP boss made the pledge at a graduation reception for nine students who were awarded foreign post-graduate scholarships by PAP in universities in the United Kingdom.
A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Igoniko Oduma, said the successful scholars are the first graduates in the offshore post-graduate scholarship deployment to UK institutions by the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro, for the 2024-2025 academic session.
According to the statement, they graduated from the Anglia Ruskin University, University of Dundee and The University of Law with master’s degrees in cyber security, data science and engineering, law, construction and civil engineering management, project management, and ICT.
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Otuaro disclosed in the statement that 711 undergraduate and post-graduate scholarship beneficiaries are expected to graduate from universities within Nigeria this year.
According to Otuaro, the expansion of the scholarship scheme is aimed at creating more opportunities for indigent students of Niger Delta extraction to access higher education with a view to closing the human capital development gap in the region.
Otuaro said it was for this reason he deployed 3800 beneficiaries in-country in the 2024-2025 academic year, and increased the figure to 3900 in the 2025-2026 academic session with 200 for foreign scholarships.
He said under his administration, 7700 students have been so far deployed for the PAP scholarship scheme within Nigeria in less than two years.
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According to him, aince he took over, he has deployed 162 students from the region for post-graduate programmes in targeted disciplines in the UK universities.
According to him, this is in conformity with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu for the Niger Delta, who has given unprecedented support to the PAP because of his sincere love for the area.
The PAP boss said, “Our decision aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for the Niger Delta. We will continue to create more higher educational opportunities for students from indigent backgrounds in our region.
“We are also deepening the implementation of the programme’s mandate in informal education and other areas for the sustainable peace and socio-economic advancement of the region.”
Otuaro, who congratulated the master’s graduates on their successful graduation, stressed that they completed their programmes in record time which shows the seriousness they had put into their studies.
He said they have justified the Federal Government’s investment in their education with their successful graduation, and urged other beneficiaries not to be distracted in their academic pursuits.
“We congratulate these scholars on their successful graduation. It shows that they took their studies seriously. That is what we demand of every scholarship beneficiary, whether at the undergraduate or post-graduate level”, Otuaro said.
News
Okpebholo Declares Edo Business-friendly
Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State on Friday declared the state as Edo business-friendly environment and ready to welcome any investor to the state.
The governor spoke when he played host to members of the South – South Coalition of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (COSSCIMA).
The governor, who received his guests through the Office of the Deputy Governor, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, said his administration has provided the enabling environment for investors to promote their businesses.
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The governor commended the COSSCIMA for deeming it fit to choose the stata as host to the annual general meeting of the body.
“It is not surprising that you pick the state as a choice because we have provided the enabling environment by investing in infrastructure and reducing insecurity to the barest minimum.
“So, we assured potential investors that the state is safe, secured for all to come and invest,” he stated.
Also speaking, Hon. Omoh Anabor, Commissioner for Business, Trade, and Investment, said that the state was ready to partner any firm.
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Earlier in his address, President of COSSCIMA, Hon. Indutimi komonibo said, “The Edo State Governor is doing a great job.
He, however, pointed out that nonetheless reiterated, “No government can succeed without partnering with the organized private sector.”
“We seek collaboration wherever we go. We carry the emblem of national development. Investors are looking for where their business will thrive. We understand the language of the business.”
He stated that COSSCIMA membership cut across the six Chambers of Commerce that make up the South-South states of the federation.
News
Oba Of Benin Suspends Priest, Reaffirms Appointment Of Okao
The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare the second, has suspended the traditional priest of Uniamen Village, Chief Sunday Sidney Enoma as the Ohen-Ovia of Unuamen for violating the custom and traditional of Benin.
The Monarch reaffirmed Chief Kingsley Igbinosa as the Okao (traditional head) of Unuamen Village, in Ovia North East local Government Area of Edo State.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Osaigbovo Iguobaro, the Oba described the claim by the suspended Ohen of Unuamen that he is the one who usually installs the Okao of the village as baseless, unfounded and abominable.
The Benin Monarch noted that all Chieftaincy titles in Benin kingdom are conferred by the Oba.
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