Vice President Kashim Shettima returned to Abuja on Tuesday after representing President Bola Tinubu at two major international meetings in South Africa and Angola.

Shettima attended the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg and the African Union-European Union Summit in Luanda, where Nigeria made strong demands for changes in how the world treats African countries.

At the G20 meeting, President Tinubu’s message through the vice-president was clear: ”the current global financial system is outdated and unfair to developing countries”.

He called for reforms that would give African nations better control over their resources and argued that African communities should benefit more from the valuable minerals found in their lands, not just sell raw materials cheaply to other countries.

Tinubu also asked world leaders to create global rules for Artificial Intelligence to ensure the technology is used responsibly.

At the AU-EU Summit in Luanda, Shettima pushed Nigeria’s long-standing demand for Africa to get permanent seats on the UN Security Council with veto power.

Currently, no African country has a permanent seat on the council, even though Africa is home to 1.4 billion people. Nigeria argued that this is unfair and needs to change.

The President also told European leaders that Africa wants to be treated as an equal partner, not just as countries receiving aid. He called for joint security programs that respect African ideas and solutions.

The Vice President’s trip shows that Nigeria is speaking up more boldly on the world stage. As Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, Nigeria is demanding that global institutions change to reflect today’s reality, not the power arrangements made after World War II.

The government believes African countries deserve fair prices for their resources, a real voice in global decisions, and partnerships based on respect rather than charity.

Shettima’s return marks the end of an important week of pushing Nigeria’s agenda at these high-level international meetings.