United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has urged Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, to take a leading role in Africa’s push for a restructured global order, saying the country is well placed to help drive the continent toward greater global influence.
Guterres spoke during a high-level bilateral meeting with Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, on Friday, February 13, 2026, on the sidelines of the 39th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The African Union is a 55-member continental organisation that brings together African governments to coordinate policy and address shared political and economic priorities.
According to the account of the meeting, the UN chief praised the economic reforms introduced by the administration of Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and he also highlighted Nigeria’s leadership role in efforts to stabilise parts of West Africa and the Sahel, a semi-arid region south of the Sahara Desert that has faced persistent insecurity and political instability in recent years. He noted that Nigeria has taken on these regional responsibilities despite confronting its own security challenges at home.
Okay News reports that Guterres said Nigeria’s changing economic direction and security commitments have strengthened the country’s standing on the continent. He applauded what he described as the “remarkable and outstanding reforms” of the Tinubu administration, linking those changes to Nigeria’s growing influence in regional diplomacy and security discussions.
The talks also covered key developments inside Nigeria and how the country’s diplomatic and security posture is shaping wider efforts to promote stability across neighbouring regions. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional bloc of 15 countries, has been central to many political and security initiatives in West Africa, where several governments have faced major security pressures and political transitions.
In his response, Shettima thanked Guterres for what he called the Secretary-General’s leadership in advancing global peace. He said Africa has benefitted greatly from Guterres’s tenure, even as the United Nations continues its own internal restructuring.
