MAYOWA ALAKIJA
For over five decades, Nigeria’s global standing has risen, fallen, and risen again. The other day, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, addressed the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) in New York. His statement rekindled Nigeria’s role as Africa’s leading voice and reminded the world of its historic place as a defender of justice, fairness, and reform.
Tinubu’s call for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council for Africa, fairer access to trade and finance, equity for resource-rich nations, and closing the digital divide re-echoed the spirit of the country’s diplomacy in 1976, when General Murtala Ramat Muhammed stood before the world and declared that Africa would no longer be a pawn in global politics. His short but bold tenure set a standard for Nigerian diplomacy—one that Tinubu’s government now seeks to revive.
Muhammed’s administration (July 1975 to February 1976) marked the dawn of Nigeria’s assertive foreign policy. At the 31st UNGA in 1975, he denounced apartheid, colonialism, and foreign interference in African affairs, backing liberation struggles in Angola, Mozambique, and Southern Africa. This moral boldness earned Nigeria respect among developing nations and placed Africa at the centre of international debate.
After his assassination in 1976, General Olusegun Obasanjo continued this foreign policy activism, consolidating Nigeria’s reputation as a defender of African freedom and a rising global power. However, the years that followed (between 1979 and 1999) told a different story, as there was a decline in Nigeria’s image. President Shehu Shagari’s civilian administration (1979 to 1983) was marred by economic mismanagement and corruption, eroding Nigeria’s credibility abroad. The military regimes that followed—Generals Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, and Abdulsalami Abubakar—deepened the decline.
Babangida briefly regained influence through peacekeeping in Liberia and Sierra Leone, but authoritarianism and annulled elections overshadowed those gains. Under Abacha, Nigeria became a pariah, suspended from the Commonwealth in 1995 after the execution of writer and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni activists. By 1999, Nigeria’s reputation had plummeted to its lowest ebb.
The return to democracy in 1999 offered a chance at renewal. President Obasanjo restored Nigeria’s international image, secured debt relief from the Paris Club in 2005, re-engaged with multilateral institutions, and reasserted Nigeria’s peacekeeping leadership.
His successors contributed unevenly. Umaru Yar’Adua emphasised the rule of law but was hampered by ill-health. Goodluck Jonathan pursued regional peace and electoral reforms, while Buhari focused on anti-corruption and counter-terrorism. Yet insecurity, economic fragility, and governance challenges limited Nigeria’s ability to command consistent respect on the world stage.
President Tinubu’s current push to reclaim Nigeria’s voice in the international arena is anchored on four pillars of reform.
The first pillar is the quest for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. “When the United Nations was founded in 1945, Nigeria was absent from the table where decisions shaping its destiny were made”, Tinubu declared. Today, with over 236 million people—projected to be the world’s third most populous country by 2050—Nigeria insists that Africa’s 1.4 billion people deserve permanent representation at the UN’s top chamber.
Nigeria has contributed troops to 51 of 60 UN peacekeeping operations since its independence, from Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s to ongoing missions today. Tinubu argued that multilateralism loses credibility when the world of 1945 still dictates in 2025. For Africa, Nigeria’s case is both moral and practical.
The second pillar is debt relief and fair access to trade. This revolves around the debt trap suffocating developing economies. He called for a binding international mechanism to manage sovereign debt—a “financial equivalent of the International Court of Justice.”
The argument is not one of charity but fairness. In 2005, Nigeria secured $18 billion in debt relief, but today, cycles of debt have returned across the Global South. Without fairer access to trade, financing, and markets, nations face cruel choices between food security, schools, and defence.
Tinubu linked Nigeria’s own painful reforms—ending fuel subsidies and restructuring currency controls—to this global demand, framing the country as a credible advocate for broader financial justice.
The third pillar is equity for resource-rich nations. Decades of oil extraction in Nigeria’s Niger Delta created immense wealth for multinationals while leaving local communities impoverished and polluted. The same paradox haunts Africa’s mineral-rich states, from Sierra Leone’s blood diamonds to Congo’s conflict minerals.
Tinubu insisted that fairness requires investment in local processing and job creation. With demand soaring for minerals like lithium and cobalt, Africa must not again become a theatre of exploitation. Instead of exporting raw ore, African nations should export finished products, ensuring real benefits for their people.
The last one, which reflects the future, seeks to close the digital divide. Tinubu reminded the Assembly that technology is reshaping governance, law, finance, and conflict, yet the digital divide between developed and developing nations risk becoming the new frontier of inequality. Fake news, cybercrime, and misinformation already destabilise societies. But more dangerous, he warned, is the emergence of a generation that believes nothing and trusts less, corroding the foundation of democratic governance.
Tinubu declared that for Nigeria—where over 65 per cent of the population is under 30—digital inclusion is a survival strategy. He called for a global initiative uniting governments, researchers, and the private sector to expand access and literacy. He also tied digital equity to peace and governance, warning that unchecked disinformation could corrode trust and democracy.
In the same speech, he reaffirmed Nigeria’s support for a two-state solution in Gaza, linking technology, peace, and human rights in a forward-looking vision for the Global South.
Tinubu’s UNGA80 speech was more than rhetoric—it was a blueprint for repositioning Nigeria as a credible, reformist voice in the international system. By linking domestic reforms to global priorities, his administration projects Nigeria as a serious player once again.
From Murtala Muhammed’s uncompromising stand against apartheid to Tinubu’s call for Security Council reform, Nigeria’s journey has come full circle. With a reviving economy, stronger governance, and a commitment to fairness in global affairs, Nigeria is repositioning itself as both a continental anchor and a global partner.
This is more than diplomacy—it is the restoration of respect and relevance among the community of nations.
•Alakija writes from Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos.