President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday aligned with the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, Portugal and other countries calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state.
In his address at the United Nations General Assembly’s 80th session in New York, United States, on Wednesday, Tinubu insisted that a two-state solution remains “the most dignified path” to ending the protracted war between Palestine and Israel in the Middle East.
According to reports, the call for the recognition of a Palestinian state has been rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.
Trump and France President Emmanuel Macron had on Tuesday differed on the call for a Palestinian state.
Both leaders met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where they discussed differing views on the future of Gaza and Palestinian statehood.
However, in his own address, delivered on his behalf by his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, President Tinubu aligned with France and others calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state, while criticising the UN’s handling of the ongoing human suffering in the Middle East and other regions, calling it “stains on our collective humanity.”
Taking a bold stance on the debate, Tinubu declared: “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 added.
Some member states have expressed frustration over the UN’s slow, veto-bound response to crises from Gaza to Ukraine, with humanitarian appeals underfunded and resolutions stalled by great-power rivalry.
Many countries in the Global South have considered the body as increasingly unable to protect civilians or check impunity.
More so, reform debates have slowed for decades.
For instance, Africa’s Ezulwini Consensus demands two permanent seats, while India, Brazil, Japan and Germany push for broader expansion and curbs on veto power.
Although the Western powers acknowledge the need for change, progress has been glacial as conflicts have skyrocketed in recent years.
At the General Assembly, President Tinubu warned that the UN’s credibility is being undermined by the gulf between its words and its deeds while positioning Nigeria’s economic transformation as a model for developing nations.
“For all our careful diplomatic language, the slow pace of progress on these hardy perennials of the UN General Assembly debate has led some to look away from the multilateral model.
“Some years ago, I noticed a shift at this gathering: key events were beginning to take place outside this hall, and the most sought-after voices were no longer heads of state,” the President said.
Tinubu outlined four key reform demands, starting with Nigeria’s call for permanent UN Security Council membership.
“Nigeria must have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. This should take place as part of a wider process of institutional reform.
“The United Nations will recover its relevance only when it reflects the world as it is, not as it was,” he stated.
Tinubu emphasised Nigeria’s transformation from “a colony of 20 million people, absent from the tables where decisions about our fate were taken” to “a sovereign nation of over 236 million, projected to be the third most populous country in the world, with one of the youngest and most dynamic populations on earth.”
He also expressed deep frustration with the pace of international progress on critical issues, from nuclear disarmament to Security Council reform.
“When we speak of nuclear disarmament, the proliferation of small weapons, Security Council reform, fair access to trade and finance, and the conflicts and human suffering across the world, we must recognise the truth.
“These are stains on our collective humanity,” he stated.
Tinubu Calls for Global Financial Reforms, Resource Control, and Inclusive Development
Speaking further, Tinubu proposed radical reforms to the global financial system, calling for new mechanisms to address the sovereign debt crisis plaguing developing nations.
“I am calling for a new and binding mechanism to manage sovereign debt, a sort of International Court of Justice for money, that will allow emerging economies to escape the economic straitjacket of primary production of unprocessed exports,” he noted.
The President emphasised the need for “urgent action to promote debt relief, not as an act of charity but as a clear path to the peace and prosperity that benefits us all.”
According to him, Africa’s natural resources are central to future global stability. Therefore, the continent must exercise control over strategic minerals, he said.
“Africa – and I must include Nigeria – has in abundance the critical minerals that will drive the technologies of the future,” President Tinubu said.
“Investment in exploration, development and processing of these minerals, in Africa, will diversify supply to the international market, reduce tensions between major economies and help shape the architecture for peace and prosperity,” Tinubu added.
He insisted that countries producing strategic minerals must “benefit fairly from those minerals, in terms of investment, partnership, local processing and jobs.”
“When we export raw materials, as we have been doing, tension, inequality, and instability fester,” he added.
On the new information frontiers, President Tinubu called for closing the digital divide, referencing the UN Secretary-General’s vision that “’A.I.’ must stand for ‘Africa Included’.”
“I am calling for a new dialogue, to ensure we promote the best of the opportunities that are arising – and promote the level of access that allows emerging economies more quickly, to close a wealth and knowledge gap that is in no one’s interest,” he stated.
Regarding Nigeria’s ongoing economic transformation, President Tinubu acknowledged the difficult reality facing citizens, but said Nigeria’s economic reforms represent a model for resilience.
“The government has taken difficult but necessary steps to restructure our economy and remove distortions, including subsidies and currency controls that benefited the few at the expense of the many,” he explained.
“I believe in the power of the market to transform. Our task is to enable and facilitate, and to trust in the ingenuity and enterprise of the people. But the process of transition is difficult,” the President said.
On Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and violent extremism, Tinubu outlined a philosophy that prioritises ideological victory over military conquest.
“From this long and difficult struggle with violent extremism, one truth stands clear: military tactics may win battles measured in months and years, but in wars that span generations, it is values and ideas that deliver the ultimate victory,” he stated.
The President called for renewed commitment to multilateralism, while reaffirming that Nigeria’s commitment to peace, to development, to unity, to multilateralism, and to the defence of human rights is beyond compromise.
Tinubu warned, “None of us is safe until all of us are safe. We must make real change, change that works, and change that is seen to work. If we fail, the direction of travel is already predictable.” …Punchng.com
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