The United Nations General Assembly functions as an instrument of great power politics, prioritizing national protectionism over global collective interests, according to Bola A. Akinterinwa. Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) directly condemned "broken promises, unfair treatment and outright exploitation from abroad" as factors hindering Africa's progress during his address to the 78th Session of UNGA on its third anniversary, September 20, 2023.
Akinterinwa noted that the UN, despite preaching democracy, does not permit it within its own organizational structure. He pointed to the United States' historical financial leverage, once accounting for nearly 50% of the UN budget and voluntary contributions, before reducing its share to approximately 22%. This financial power shapes how nations like Nigeria engage with the body.
Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari's framework of four concentric circles of foreign policy, focusing on Nigeria's immediate neighbors, West Africa, the rest of Africa, and the wider world, guides Nigeria's engagement. Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji, while agreeing with Gambari, emphasized the need to assess the concrete gains for Nigerians within each circle, describing his view as Constructive and Beneficial Concentricism.
PBAT, in his 2023 address, called for a commitment to partnership and enhanced international cooperation to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. He stressed that global institutions, other nations, and their private sector actors must prioritize African development, not just for Africa's sake, but also in their own interests. This plea for partnership comes after a long history of exploitation.
He further denounced the "pilfering and conflict" in Africa's mineral-rich areas, describing them as "catacombs of misery and exploitation." The Democratic Republic of the Congo, he noted, has suffered decades of this surplus extraction despite a strong UN presence, with the world economy owing it much but giving very little. PBAT also highlighted the severe impacts of climate change on Nigeria and Africa, from desert encroachment in the north to coastal flooding in the south, and devastating floods in the middle, asserting that African nations must fight climate change on their own terms.
PBAT's concluding remarks underscored the systemic issues, stating that the "poverty of nations must end" and the "pillage of one nation’s resources by the overreach of firms and people of stronger nations must end." He articulated Africa's desire to be "neither appendage nor patron," seeking freedom from "old shackles" and "new ones," and aspiring to a prosperous, vibrant democratic living space.
The State's Role in Global Capital
Akinterinwa characterized the UNGA as a mere "talking shop," where action is subject to the "whims and caprices of the big powers." He identified the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a problematic instrument of "power rivalry and geopolitical competition," frequently paralyzed by the use of veto power and shifting coalitions. When the UNSC is deadlocked, power shifts to the UNGA, where major powers manipulate narratives to isolate adversaries.
Big powers, including the United States, China, and Russia, actively lobby for the adoption of UNGA resolutions, even if non-binding, to advance their national interests. The United States, for instance, initiated UNGA Resolution 377A in 1950 to recommend collective military measures when the Soviet Union frequently obstructed UNSC actions. More recently, following Russia's veto of resolutions condemning its invasion of Ukraine, the United States and its Western allies passed Resolution ES-11/1 to condemn and diplomatically isolate Russia. The US and EU countries also routinely sponsor UNGA resolutions targeting the human rights records of "geopolitical adversaries" such as Iran, North Korea, and Syria, and have lobbied against upgrading Palestine’s status.
Managing Contradictions, Not Solving Them
Nigeria's Vice-President Kashim Shettima, standing in for PBAT at the 79th Session of the UNGA on its second anniversary, September 25, 2024, acknowledged that the UN's pillars of inclusiveness, peace, sustainable development, and human rights are threatened by the pursuit of "individual national priorities rather than collective needs." He listed persistent global crises, including "terrorism, armed conflict, inequality, poverty, racial discrimination, human rights abuses, food crises, hunger, irregular migration, piracy, global pandemics, hyper-inflation, nuclear proliferation, grinding debt burden, climate change," noting that "billions of dollars were being committed to wars and the fanning of conflict."
Shettima called for the adoption of a "Pact for the Future" to reposition economies and translate into concrete measures for developing and least developed countries. He reiterated the Global South's demand for reform of the "international financial architecture" and the promotion of a "rules-based, non-discriminatory, open, fair, inclusive, equitable and transparent multilateral trading system." These proposals aim to adjust the existing system rather than dismantle the structures of capital accumulation that produce these crises.
At the 80th UNGA on its first anniversary, September 24, 2025, Shettima again raised issues of governance, climate change, and the global debt burden. He asserted Nigeria's demand for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council as part of wider institutional reform, urgent action for sovereign debt relief, and for countries hosting minerals to benefit from those resources. He also emphasized closing the digital divide, quoting the Secretary General: “A.I. must stand for ‘Africa Included.’”
During the ongoing 81st session, Shettima reiterated Nigeria's demand, in accordance with the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, for at least two permanent seats for Africa, with full rights including the veto, and five non-permanent seats. This push for greater representation within the existing imperial structure highlights the struggle for a fairer share of power. Akinterinwa concluded that the UNGA remains a "talking shop" and a "hide and seek children game" for Africa, with weak countries seeking multilateralism while big powers prioritize bilateralism, and the UN Charter's amendment requiring the unanimity of veto powers, effectively entrenching the existing power imbalance.
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