Vice President Kashim Shettima has met with the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at UN headquarters in the United States to discuss key issues, including Nigeria’s quest for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and other matters of mutual interest.
During the meeting, Shettima emphasised the need for the UN to “support Nigeria to achieve more,” highlighting that “we are aspiring to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
The two leaders also held bilateral discussions focusing on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate change, collaboration on strengthening democracy in Nigeria and the African region, and partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on regional initiatives for democracy and security.
SPONSOR AD
Speaking about the visit to the United Nations, Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar said the UN has a very strong presence in Nigeria, with many of its agencies domiciled in the country.
The minister told journalists that the UN Secretary-General commended the Vice President for emphasising Nigeria’s need for a permanent position on the UN Security Council.
Providing insight into the VP-UN Secretary-General meeting, Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, Dr ‘Bosun Tijani said the Nigerian delegation had a very cordial engagement with the UN Secretary-General.
He highlighted Guterres’ comments on artificial intelligence and his hope and expectation that Nigeria will continue to play a significant role in the field.
“He was extremely happy when we mentioned that Nigeria, just a few days ago, released our first multilingual and multimodal large language model—the first of its kind on the African continent, backed by any government.
“Even as we were leaving, he (Guterres) mentioned that he would love to see Nigeria support other African countries to ensure Africa is not left behind in artificial intelligence and that we can leverage it properly for development,” he disclosed.
Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Yusuf Tanko Sununu, stressed that the Nigerian government had fruitful discussions with the United Nations Secretary-General, highlighting the efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration in addressing humanitarian crises and poverty reduction.
“We highlighted that we have one of the largest national social registers containing almost 18.9 million households, and we have reached over 8.1 million Nigerians through conditional cash transfers.
“We also highlighted the government’s efforts to promote inclusivity for people with disabilities,” the minister added.
Earlier, the Vice President held a bilateral meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Lammy MP.
The UK and Nigerian leaders pledged to deepen cooperation in trade, economy, defence, and migration.
On the same day, Vice President Kashim Shettima attended the Global Leadership Council Meeting, assuring that Nigeria is poised to leverage opportunities in the digital space to engage youths and empower women and girls.
The Global Leadership Council Meeting, held at UNICEF Headquarters, Henry Labouisse Hall, 3 United Nations Plaza, United States, brought together Heads of State, CEOs, heads of UN agencies, civil society champions, and young people to analyse how to co-create and deliver innovative solutions on a global scale.
