Vice President Kashim Shettima has returned to Nigeria after leading the country’s delegation to the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.
Shettima represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the annual gathering of world leaders, where he presented Nigeria’s national position on a number of international and regional issues.
According to a statement issued on Monday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima departed Abuja on September 20 with the President’s mandate to lead the Nigerian delegation.
Nigeria renews call for UN reforms
During the General Debate, Shettima delivered President Tinubu’s National Statement, in which Nigeria renewed its call for reform of the United Nations Security Council.
Nigeria advocated permanent African representation on the council, alongside greater fairness in global financing, stronger support for climate action and deeper international cooperation.
The Vice President also participated in the Third High-Level Roundtable of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group.
At the meeting, Tinubu called on African countries to move beyond exporting raw minerals by developing processing and manufacturing capacity that would enable the continent to capture more value from its natural resources.
Education financing and diaspora engagement
Shettima also represented Nigeria at a high-level education financing event co-hosted by Nigeria and Italy.
At the meeting, he reaffirmed the Federal Government’s position that education remains an important investment in human capital, productivity and long-term national development.
He also expressed support for the Global Partnership for Education’s $5 billion financing campaign.
During his stay in New York, the Vice President met with members of the Nigerian community in the diaspora.
He highlighted the potential contributions of Nigerians living abroad through investments, professional expertise and international networks.
Other engagements included meetings with the new leadership of the ECOWAS Commission and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed.
The Vice President’s delegation also used the UNGA platform to advance Nigeria’s positions on development financing, regional integration, economic cooperation, technology, peace and security.
Shettima has now returned to Nigeria following the conclusion of the international engagements.
