On Thursday September 24, 2026 at the 81st United Nation’s General Assembly New York, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, in his address to the global gathering of world leaders on behalf of President Bola Tinubu, called for a reconstitution of the United Nation’s Security Council, UNSC. to allow for two permanent seats for Africa on the council.
In the speech, Shettima said “Nigeria demands, in accordance with the Ezulwini Consensus and the CFTA Declaration, at least two permanent seats for Africa, with all the rights and responsibilties of permanent membership, including veto for as long as it exits..”
Making a case for Nigeria in this regard, VP Shettima said further that “The authority to speak for humanity carries and obligation to represent it, Nigeria stands ready to assume greater responsibility on the strength of obligations honoured and sacrifices made over decades in the service of peace. From Liberia, and Sierra Leone to Darfur, Mali and the Gambia, we have committed personnel and resources when international solidarity requires action.
“Through ECOWAS, the African Union and our Gulf of Guinea partnerships, we continue to advance governance, counter-terrorism, and maritime security.”
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Although this call has been on the cards for quite sometime now, against the background of current momentous developments and shifts in the world, especially in relation to the ongoing US/Iran war and its corollaries in the Middle East specifically and the world to a larger extant, the timing could not have been more appropriate.
Many people around the world are of the belief that the United Nations as currently constituted and functions has outlived its usefulness in our present global realities. They point out that the structures of the UN were established when the world had emerged from a devastating world war which claimed hundreds of millions of lives and resulted in the utter destruction of livelihoods.
The structures that were built to underguard the United Nations thus needed to include the victorious powers as guarantors of world peace and security which the UN was set up to achieve.
Thus based on the agreement reached at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference in 1944, and at the founding of the UN the following year the five permanent members of the UNSC were constituted thus; China, France, USSR, United Kingdom and the USA.
The five permanent members of UNSC were all allies during World War 2 and between them they had the most consequential strategic reach in global decision making and influence.
But over the decades as global developments have paced up enabling countries that have becoming increasingly influential in global affairs, calls have been made for the expansion of membership of the UNSC to reflect this.
Nigeria, which by all accounts is the most populous and most influential economic country in the African continent, has a case to be considered for the UNSC permanent seat should such an expansion be contemplated. Nigeria’s quest is also bolstered by its contributions to world peace keeping not only in Africa but in other conflict prone areas outside the continent.
As Shettima said the Liberian and Sierra Leonian examples in which Nigeria initiated regional efforts through ECOMOG to restore peace to those countries as well as the southern African independence liberation movements which Nigeria robustly championed in conjunction with other African countries to successful conclusion are there to see. Nigeria also led efforts in setting up the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, for the promotion and integration of commerce and trade in the sub region.
Another point in favour of Nigeria would be its diversity as the fourth ethnically diverse country in the world as well the fact one in every four black persons in the world is a Nigerian.
Considering all these factors if a case is to be made for an African country to be granted the seat in the UNSC, Nigeria stands the best chance when placed alongside other African countries.
South Africa which has a record of xenophobia against citizens of other African countries cannot possibly be considered. Besides being a country with a split identity in black African and white European populations, Africans cannot feel comfortable being represented at the UNSC by South Africa. Same goes for Egypt which identifies itself more of an Arab country than African.
But will that be enough to get Nigeria on the UNSC seat should there be reforms to expand the council to add more members?
Two factors are relevant here; the content of the reform, and how Nigeria presents its case for the support and consideration of countries in Africa and the world.
With regards to how the reforms will be conducted to expand the UNSC, the five permanent members that constitute the council will have a greater say and influence on how the reforms will pan out. In other words as the UN charter would have to be reformed for the membership of the UNSC to be expanded, the present five permanent council members would be the ones to determine, to a large extent, how the new membership will be constituted.
Secondly, by this very fact Nigeria would have to crank up its lobbying and negotiation with the five members to ensure that the guidelines and content of the reforms for UNSC expansion favours it. It is from this that Nigeria can effectively initiate its lobbying for the seat. The job will have to be done and dusted with the five members long before the reforms are kick started.
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Can Nigeria be successful at its quest for a permanent UNSC seat?
There are no guarantees on this. Deserving the UNSC permanent seat is not the same thing as getting it. There is lot of work to be done to clinch it. The assumption that we will get it because we are the “giant of Africa” should be discarded if there ever was such a thing. Nigeria should not take it for granted that due to certain factors the seat will come to us without a struggle. With so many contenders to the seat it is a matter of interests and here the principle of quid pro quo becomes important. Who are the significant players and how influential and important is their role? What do we give? How do we determine the heirachy of lobbying and negotiations to be done? How do we measure the tangibles from the intangibles of the campaign?
From all indications, the race for a seat on the UNSC is likely to be a long drawn process perhaps involving twists and turns. If Nigeria hopes to clinch the seat, then it must draw up a comprehensive working plan covering all aspects of the process; diplomatic, strategic and intelligence, business and cultural working under the strictest below-the-radar conditions with timelines.
It is doable and above all can be successful with the right commitment and drive.