AFRICA DESERVES A SEAT — BUT PERMANENT POWER MUST COME WITH PERMANENT RESPONSIBILITY
By Anyi Kings
Private Observer, Human Rights Advocate & Biafra Self-Determination Activist
Mr. President, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I rise again before this Assembly as a private observer, human-rights advocate and activist for the right of the Biafran people to determine their political future peacefully and democratically.
I have listened carefully to African leaders calling for permanent African representation on the United Nations Security Council, including permanent seats with veto power.
I understand the historical argument.
Africa is under-represented in the Security Council. The African Union's established Common African Position, expressed through the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration, calls for at least two permanent African seats with the privileges of permanent membership, including the veto if the veto continues to exist.
The President of the 81st General Assembly has himself described Africa's continued absence from the permanent membership as an issue of fairness, justice and UN credibility.
I agree that Africa deserves a stronger voice.
But I ask this Assembly to consider another question:
Should permanent power be allocated simply because a region deserves representation — or should permanent power also carry measurable standards of responsibility?
My position is simple:
I support equality in international representation, but I also believe representation must be accompanied by responsibility, democratic credibility and respect for human rights.
THE QUESTION IS NOT WHETHER AFRICA DESERVES A SEAT
Africa clearly deserves meaningful representation.
The question is what kind of representation Africa should bring to the Security Council.
A permanent seat is not merely a chair.
A veto is not merely a privilege.
The veto can determine whether the United Nations acts — or fails to act — on questions of war, peace, sanctions and international security.
Therefore, when we ask the world to entrust Africa with permanent decision-making power, Africa must also be prepared to demonstrate that its institutions can uphold the principles that the United Nations itself claims to defend.
Those principles include:
human rights, democracy, peaceful conflict resolution, equality before the law, freedom of expression, political participation and respect for peoples' aspirations.
NIGERIA AS A CASE STUDY
Let me use Nigeria as one case study.
Nigeria is a major African country and has contributed to UN peacekeeping and regional security.
But representation must also confront uncomfortable realities.
Freedom House's 2026 assessment gives Nigeria 44 out of 100 and classifies it as “Partly Free.” The assessment cites electoral irregularities, political intimidation, restrictions on expression and assembly, religious and ethnic bias, and abuses by security forces.
Amnesty International's 2025 assessment reported arrests and arbitrary detention of journalists and government critics, excessive force against peaceful protesters and unlawful killings, among other concerns.
These are not allegations that I ask this Assembly simply to accept because I make them.
They are documented concerns that deserve examination.
And they raise a legitimate question:
If a country seeks greater authority in the world's highest international security institution, should its domestic record of democratic governance and human-rights protection not also matter?
DEVELOPMENT MUST ALSO BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION
This is not merely a human-rights argument.
It is also an economic and technological question.
Nigeria has enormous human and natural resources, and there are genuine areas of economic and technological progress.
But the development gap remains severe.
The World Bank estimates that the share of Nigerians living below the national poverty line reached approximately 63 percent in 2025, while warning that economic gains have not yet translated sufficiently into improved living standards.
On innovation, Nigeria ranked 105th among 139 economies in the 2025 Global Innovation Index. WIPO places Nigeria's innovation-input performance at 127th, with particularly weak rankings in institutions, infrastructure, human capital and research.
These figures do not mean Africa lacks ability.
Quite the opposite.
They demonstrate the enormous unfinished development task.
Therefore, if permanent representation is ultimately expanded, perhaps the international community should also ask how candidate states are performing in:
economic development, technological capacity, institutional strength, democratic governance and human-rights protection.
THE HUMAN-RIGHTS DOUBLE STANDARD
There is another issue that deserves attention.
African governments frequently speak powerfully about human rights abroad.
They rightly speak about the suffering of Palestinians and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
But the credibility of human-rights advocacy must also be measured at home.
The principle should be universal:
Human rights must matter in Gaza.
Human rights must matter in Nigeria.
Human rights must matter in Kenya.
Human rights must matter in South Africa.
Human rights must matter everywhere.
No government should be able to invoke human rights internationally while disregarding credible concerns about human rights domestically.
This is not an accusation against one government alone.
It is a standard that should apply to every government seeking greater international authority.
RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC TENSIONS
Nigeria provides another warning.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reported in 2025 that religious-freedom conditions remained poor in Nigeria, citing violence affecting Christians, Muslims and traditional religious communities, as well as the enforcement of blasphemy laws in federal and state jurisdictions.
When religious and ethnic tensions remain unresolved, international leadership should require more than diplomatic speeches.
It requires institutions capable of protecting every citizen regardless of identity.
THE BIAFRA QUESTION MUST NOT BE IGNORED
And this brings me to the question closest to my own advocacy:
Biafra.
The question of Biafra demonstrates why human rights, political representation and self-determination cannot be separated.
Amnesty International has documented serious human-rights violations in South-East Nigeria involving security forces and multiple non-state actors. Its 2025 report recorded 1,844 deaths in the South-East between January 2021 and June 2023, arising from a range of violence including protests, clashes, abductions, riots and electoral violence.
Human Rights Watch has likewise documented continuing violence and human-rights concerns connected to the separatist conflict in the region.
The existence of violence by non-state actors cannot justify ignoring alleged abuses by state authorities.
And alleged abuses by state authorities cannot justify violence by non-state actors.
Both must be condemned.
The answer must be peaceful political engagement.
Where a sustained question of self-determination exists, the democratic principle of allowing people to express their political preferences through peaceful mechanisms deserves serious consideration.
That is why I continue to advocate for the Biafran question to be addressed through dialogue and, where the necessary legal and political conditions are established, a credible referendum.
SOUTH AFRICA: THE CONTRADICTION OF AFRICAN SOLIDARITY
South Africa presents another uncomfortable contradiction.
The country has played an important role in international human-rights diplomacy.
Yet Human Rights Watch reported new waves of xenophobic attacks in South Africa in April and May 2026, targeting African and Asian foreign nationals, including violent incidents associated with anti-immigration demonstrations.
If Africans demand equality before the international community, then Africans must also defend equality among Africans.
An African migrant should not become a foreign enemy simply because he crosses an African border.
KENYA AND THE QUESTION OF POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Kenya also demonstrates why institutional standards matter.
Human Rights Watch reported in 2025 continued repression of peaceful protesters, alleged abductions and disappearances, threats against activists and journalists, and inadequate accountability for abuses.
In September 2026, Human Rights Watch additionally reported attacks by unidentified armed groups against civil-society and opposition gatherings ahead of Kenya's 2027 elections, with at least six people reportedly killed.
These examples are not presented to condemn Africa.
They are presented because Africa must be willing to examine itself as seriously as it examines the rest of the world.
REPRESENTATION AND MERIT MUST EXIST TOGETHER
Mr. President,
I therefore make a distinction.
I do not oppose African representation on the Security Council.
I oppose the idea that permanent power should be treated solely as an entitlement without corresponding standards of responsibility.
If Africa receives permanent representation, the process should establish transparent and measurable criteria.
Criteria could include:
- democratic institutional stability;
- credible and competitive elections;
- protection of human rights;
- peaceful resolution of ethnic and religious conflicts;
- protection of journalists and civil society;
- respect for peaceful self-determination advocacy;
- economic development;
- technological and scientific capacity;
- contribution to regional and international peace;
- and demonstrable commitment to international law.
Such standards should not apply only to Africa.
They should apply to every region seeking permanent representation.
Because the United Nations should not replace one unequal system with another.
It should build a system based on equality, responsibility and credibility.
AFRICA MUST NOT ONLY DEMAND POWER — AFRICA MUST DEMONSTRATE READINESS
The African continent has brilliant scientists.
Entrepreneurs.
Engineers.
Young innovators.
Peacekeepers.
Human-rights defenders.
Democratic activists.
And millions of citizens demanding accountable government.
Africa's problem is not the absence of human potential.
The problem is the failure of many political institutions to convert that potential into sustainable development, accountable governance and human security.
Therefore, let Security Council reform become an incentive for institutional transformation rather than merely an expansion of political privilege.
Let permanent representation become something that reflects not only where a country is located, but also what its institutions are capable of defending.
CONCLUSION
Distinguished delegates,
Africa should have a voice at the highest table of global decision-making.
But the question should not end with:
“Where is Africa's seat?”
We should also ask:
“What values will Africa defend when it occupies that seat?”
Will it defend human rights?
Will it defend democracy?
Will it defend freedom of expression?
Will it defend religious and ethnic minorities?
Will it defend peaceful political dissent?
Will it defend the right of peoples to seek self-determination through peaceful democratic means?
Will it defend the rule of law — even when doing so is politically inconvenient?
These are the questions that will determine whether Security Council reform becomes merely a redistribution of power or a genuine reform of global governance.
I therefore say:
YES — AFRICA DESERVES REPRESENTATION.
YES — AFRICA DESERVES EQUALITY.
BUT PERMANENT POWER MUST COME WITH PERMANENT RESPONSIBILITY.
Let us build an international system where representation is accompanied by measurable standards of governance, human rights, development, technological advancement and peaceful conflict resolution.
And when the question of self-determination arises — whether in Africa or elsewhere — let the first response be dialogue, democracy and the voice of the people, not repression.
That is the Africa I want to see represented at the United Nations Security Council.
Not merely an Africa demanding power.
An Africa demonstrating that it is prepared to use power responsibly.
Thank you.
Anyi Kings
Private Observer, Human Rights Advocate & Biafra Self-Determination Activist
81st United Nations General Assembly — September 2026
Post A Comment:
0 comments: