Vice President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday met with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN headquarters in New York, where discussions centred on Nigeria’s quest for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and other areas of mutual cooperation.
Shettima stressed the importance of greater UN support for Nigeria, saying the country is determined to secure a permanent position on the Council. The meeting also covered key global issues, including progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate change, democracy, and regional security, with special emphasis on strengthening collaboration between Nigeria and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, who briefed journalists after the engagement, said Guterres welcomed Nigeria’s ambition, commending Shettima for highlighting the country’s strong case for a permanent Security Council seat.
Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, revealed that the UN chief also praised Nigeria’s recent milestone in artificial intelligence, noting the launch of Africa’s first government-backed multilingual and multimodal large language model. According to Tijani, Guterres expressed hope that Nigeria would extend its expertise to help other African nations harness AI for development.
On humanitarian priorities, Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Yusuf Sununu, outlined Nigeria’s efforts to tackle poverty and crises, including the use of a national social register with nearly 18.9 million households and conditional cash transfers that have reached over 8.1 million Nigerians. He disclosed that the UN Secretary-General assured Nigeria of continued support to strengthen humanitarian response, validate its social register, and expand funding for poverty reduction.
Earlier in the day, Shettima held bilateral talks with UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, with both sides pledging deeper cooperation in trade, defence, economy, and migration.
The Vice President also addressed the Global Leadership Council Meeting at UNICEF Headquarters, where he reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to digital innovation, youth engagement, and women empowerment. “Inclusivity is one of the backbones of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, and we are determined to create opportunities in the digital space to empower our young people and women,” Shettima said.
