By SALISU SANI-IDRIS

New York, Sept. 26, 2025 (NAN) Vice-President Kashim Shettima has met with the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres at the UN headquarters , New York to discuss key issues, including Nigeria’s quest for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the meeting was on the sidelines of the ongoing 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where Shettima had presented the Nigeria’s national statement on behalf of President Bola Tinubu.

During the meeting, the vice president emphasised the need for the UN to “support Nigeria even more, to achieve more,” highlighting that the country “is 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 to strengthen democracy in Nigeria and the African region.

Briefing newsmen shortly after the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar disclosed that the UN has a very strong presence in Nigeria, with many of its agencies domiciled in the country.

The minister said that the UN Secretary-General commended the vice-president for emphasising Nigeria’s need for a permanent position on the UN Security Council.

Also, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and 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 that 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 that Nigeria supports other African countries to ensure the continent is not left behind in artificial intelligence and that we can leverage it properly for development,” he disclosed.

On his part, the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Yusuf Sununu, stressed that the vice president had fruitful discussions with the UN Chief.

According to hm, Shettima highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s efforts in addressing humanitarian crises and poverty reduction.

“He 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.

“He also highlighted the government’s efforts to promote inclusivity for people with disabilities,” the minister added.

Shettima, according to the minister, added the humanitarian ministry is affected by funding reductions by UN organisations.

He noted that the World Food Programme (WFP) has supported about 1.3 million Nigerians in receiving emergency food transfers, while the federal government is working earnestly to “fill the gap.”

The minister said that the UN Secretary-General assured Nigeria of continued support to improve the ministry’s capacity, authenticate its national social register, and secure more funding for intervention and poverty reduction activities.

“Generally, the Secretary-General thanked the Nigerian government, especially the President, for the ongoing support to the United Nations and assured us that the UN will continue to support Nigeria’s wishes and aspirations.” (NAN)