By Ayo Kehinde
Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has arrived in New York ahead of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which begins Monday and runs through September 28.
Shettima, who is representing President Bola Tinubu at the high-level global gathering, landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
He was received by top Nigerian government officials, including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, and Nigeria’s Permanent Mission Chargé d’Affaires to the UN, Ambassador Samson Itegboje.
Also present to welcome the Vice President were Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Uche Nnaji, Nigeria’s Defence Attaché in New York Brigadier-General Edward Koleoso, and his counterpart from Washington, Group Captain Sani Kalgo.
During his time at the General Assembly, Vice President Shettima is expected to deliver Nigeria’s national statement, participate in high-level general debates, and engage in a series of side events and bilateral meetings with global leaders.
A major highlight of his visit will be the official presentation of Nigeria’s revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, signalling the country’s renewed commitment to climate action.
Additionally, Shettima will join the high-level roundtable of Global Champions on Adequate and Affordable Housing and advocate for key reforms in the global financial system.
Speaking ahead of the event, Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar emphasised Nigeria’s leadership role in advancing the proposed United Nations Global Convention on Taxation — a central pillar in ongoing efforts to reform the international financial architecture.
“This is something that has put Nigeria in the position of leadership, and you can see that during the briefing for the Vice President, there were ministers present, senior government officials, and the whole idea of having this briefing is so that we will all be on the same page. So, going out engaging, we have to make sure that we promote this, we also promote Nigeria’s push to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, because Africa has something referred to as the common African position”, he said.
Tuggar noted that Africa is the only continent or grouping that has a common position on what should be done when it comes to reforming the UN Security Council.
The minister insisted that Africa should have a minimum of two permanent seats based on what is referred to as the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.
“We also have the issue of peacekeeping, you know, Nigeria has participated in one of the 60 peacekeeping operations that the United Nations has had. We want to ensure that when it comes to peacekeeping, the contributions to peacekeeping, not just troops, but the funding, we are not hit twice.
“Nigeria contributes not only on the African side but indeed also on the UN side. We reiterated Nigeria’s position on the conflict in the Middle East, in Gaza, Palestine, the issue of Eastern Congo, and the conflict in Sudan. The Vice-President will be meeting with the Prime Minister of Sudan, and he is also going to participate in the African Union Peace and Security Council meeting”, he said.
