The recent call by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, for the permanent membership for Nigeria and the African Union (AU) in the Group of 20 nations, (G20), is a step in the right direction. The minister, who made the call in New Delhi, India, during the 1st Foreign Ministers’ Meeting under India’s Presidency of G20, also called for a reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, for more participation by member states.
Onyeama anchored the demand on the fact that as the largest economy in Africa, with stable and uninterrupted democratic governance, Nigeria is eminently qualified to become a permanent member of G20 in the nearest future.
According to him, Nigeria attaches significant importance to the G20 as the premier forum for global economic cooperation and its role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues and other fields that are of concern to members and the world at large. He, therefore, expressed the desire of the country to work closely with the G20 and its members to address issues of concern in the world, including the need to develop digital health solutions; vocational training and technology transfer to the South. Other areas of interest, Onyeama pointed out, included digital finance and financial inclusion in developing countries; holistic approach to debt burden, climate change and post-pandemic recovery measures.
The G20 or Group of 20 is a premier forum for international cooperation on the most important aspects of the international economic and financial agenda. It is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU) and works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
The G20 was founded in 1999 in response to several world economic crises and to carry along some of the countries that were not adequately represented in global economic discussion and governance. The Group is composed of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union (EU), France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA). The G20 countries together represent around 90 per cent of global GDP, 80 per cent of global trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population.
The objectives of the G20 include policy coordination between its members in order to achieve global economic stability, sustainable growth; promoting financial regulations that reduce risks and prevent future financial crises; and creating a new international financial framework. There is no doubt that the most pressing contemporary issues among countries can only be effectively tackled with multilateral cooperation and stronger collaboration, especially in search of global peace and security. This can only be attained through effective, representative, and inclusive multilateral platforms that are governed by acceptable rules and norms that give opportunity for all. It is on this consideration that the Minister lent his voice in calling for the reform of other institutions like the IMF and the World Bank to make them more attuned to the needs of developing countries.
Of particular concern is the call for a reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to ensure Africa’s legitimate right to fair and equitable representation in the Council, considering the principles, objectives, and ideals of the United Nations Charter for a fairer world based on universalism, equity and regional balance within the United Nations system.
The reform of the UNSC is long overdue. The Council currently has five permanent members, namely, Britain, France, USA, Russia and China. Regrettably, Africa has no representation in the Council. The extant arrangement deprives the continent of opportunity to make input in major global affairs. This is against the principles of equity and fairness, which the UN espouses.
Nigeria deserves a seat in the UNSC given its human and material contributions to the UN, especially its participation in peace keeping and enforcement operations, ensuring stability in the West African sub-region, Africa and by extension, ensuring world peace. The country also has the population, the economy, the geography, the military strength and other indices that accord prestige to nations in international relations. Equally, being a leading voice in Africa, it is only fair that Nigeria is given a permanent seat in the Council to represent the views of the continent.
However, while the call for the inclusion of the country in G20 and UNSC is in order, Nigeria must put its house in order to convince other countries that it deserves attention. It should earn the membership of the organisations by addressing the rising insecurity, corruption, unemployment among its youths, opacity in its electoral system, poor human rights records, rule of law and good governance.