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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, received the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, on Tuesday and intends to hold bilateral talks on security cooperation, among others.
In a statement, SA Communications and Media Strategy Minister, Alkasim Abdulkadir, said Tuggar received the senior diplomat at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
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The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, also accompanied the minister to receive the US Secretary of State.
Tuggar subsequently held talks with Blinken focusing on deepening democracy in the West African subregion, strengthening trade relations and security cooperation.
The minister has also planned to take the opportunity to urge the United States and the broader international community to seriously consider multilateral reforms, particularly democratizing the United Nations Security Council.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Tuggar, at the just concluded World Economic Forum (WEF), said there was a need to democratize the United Nations (UN) security council because it is “clumsy and non-functional”.
He said the values of democracy, such as the rule of law, should be replicated in the world’s highest decision-making bodies.
“What we have to do is collectively practice what we preach.
“The values that we defend, democracy and the rule of law, must be practiced, and we must see them practiced in the very bodies or entities that make decisions on the planet.
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“So, to begin with, it is necessary to democratize the UN Security Council. It is clearly not fit for purpose.
“We should end veto powers in the UN Security Council; Clearly, it’s clunky and doesn’t work.
“Once again, when you look at the global security architecture, it is affected by undemocratic entities influencing decisions.”
(YAYA)
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