Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, says the country will always stand for equity and justice during elections and all engagements of the United Nations.
He made the statement shortly before departing New York, when he met with the Costa Rican candidate for the position of the United Nations Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan.
During his interaction, VP Shettima said Nigeria will stand for equity, justice, and fairness in its support for any candidate seeking the position of the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN).
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He said the country will also support a candidate who believes in Africa’s aspirations in global affairs, specifically securing positions in key decision-making bodies and promoting multilateralism.
“Thank you for seeking Nigeria’s perspective for your candidature of the United Nations Secretary-General. Nigeria and Costa Rica share a common historical background connecting both countries and their regions”.
“We also have a cordial relationship with Latin America, and we do not wish to jeopardise it. Beyond our historical ties and relations rests our interest in conflict prevention, multilateralism, and the peace of our nations,” He said.
In a related development, Nigeria and the Netherlands have agreed to deepen collaboration to improve financial inclusion across different levels of the Nigerian society.
Under the arrangement, the Netherlands will leverage its expertise and experience in financial health to support programmes implemented by Nigeria on financial inclusion.
This was part of resolutions reached during a bilateral meeting between Vice President Kashim Shettima and the Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Maxima, in New York, United States.
The Nigerian Vice President welcomed the offer of support from the government of the Netherlands on improving Nigeria’s drive for financial inclusion, targeting women and vulnerable persons in the society.
VP Shettima said the Netherlands’ focus on financial health and inclusion is not only apt but timely, noting that for Nigeria, the policy has a direct link to education, security, and poverty reduction.
He listed some of the programmes already being implemented by the government to boost the policy, including the conditional cash transfer initiative and schemes in the agricultural sector, emphasising that the results were already yielding fruits across different sectors.
The Vice President also disclosed that government policies have positioned some of Africa’s top fintech companies to play critical roles in Nigeria’s journey to achieving financial inclusion for most of its excluded population.
While justifying the reforms undertaken by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Vice President said the reforms are inevitable given the state of the economy at the onset of the administration in 2023.
