During the September 2025 UN General Assembly, global leaders delivered powerful messages underscoring the unfinished agenda of Sustainable Development Goal 16, which focuses on Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. Vice President Kashim Shettima, representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, highlighted a critical acknowledgment: the world’s most pressing security and economic crises are deeply intertwined with the United Nations’ institutional inertia. Rather than addressing isolated issues, these speeches collectively confronted the multifaceted threats of today’s world-a complex blend of asymmetric warfare, climate-induced instability, entrenched economic disparities, and cyber conflicts. Nations of all sizes concurred that the security framework established in 1945 no longer suffices. This consensus elevates the Pact for the Future from a mere diplomatic vision to a concrete strategic plan, compelling the UN and its members to undertake essential reforms in governance, financial justice, and peacebuilding to restore the organization’s strategic effectiveness amid an increasingly volatile global landscape.
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The 80th session of the UN General Assembly commenced on 9 September 2025, with the high-level general debate beginning on 23 September under the theme: ‘Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.’ Marking eight decades of the UN’s existence, this session arrives at a moment when the organization confronts a profound crisis of relevance. The security doctrines crafted in the aftermath of World War II, designed to manage conflicts between sovereign states, are increasingly inadequate against today’s hybrid threats. The UN’s foundational promise-global cooperation to tackle shared challenges-is strained by a convergence of old and new pressures. Persistent issues like oppression and territorial ambitions now intersect with emerging challenges such as cyber warfare and climate-induced crises, revealing a collective security system struggling to address the asymmetric and hybrid threats defining the current era.
This stark reality motivated member states to adopt the Pact for the Future in September 2024, signaling a shift from reactive crisis management to proactive strategic foresight. President Tinubu’s address candidly reflected this shift, using Nigeria’s security challenges as a practical framework for implementing the Pact’s New Agenda for Peace.
“At the heart of President Tinubu’s message is a call for the UN to overhaul its strategic doctrine. The Pact for the Future is not merely a diplomatic statement but a comprehensive blueprint for this transformation.”
A critical weakness in the UN’s structure is the Security Council’s deadlock, where veto powers have turned it into a bottleneck rather than an effective decision-making body. This stalemate creates a dangerous void exploited by state-backed proxies and violent non-state actors to expand their reach and influence.
President Tinubu directly confronted this systemic flaw, aligning with Pillar 5 of the Pact for the Future: Transforming Global Governance. He emphatically advocated for a permanent African seat on the Security Council, arguing that an institution that fails to mirror global demographic realities cannot govern effectively. Nigeria’s push for representation leverages the momentum of the Pact’s governance reforms, aiming to make the Council more responsive and agile in addressing the security concerns of the Global South.
The contemporary global threat landscape can be categorized into five interconnected domains:
1. Hybrid and asymmetric conflicts, where non-state actors dominate combat roles, and the fusion of criminal networks with ideological movements intensifies instability. The widespread availability of small arms and light weapons exacerbates violence, fueling everything from urban crime waves to regional insurgencies.
2. Climate change acts as a catalyst for conflict by triggering resource scarcity, forced displacement, border tensions, and weakening state structures.
3. Digital vulnerabilities, including cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, the spread of misinformation amplified by artificial intelligence, and the persistent digital divide, all contribute to global insecurity.
4. Deep-rooted economic inequalities and vulnerabilities, such as the cyclical relationship between debt and insecurity, illicit financial flows, and fragile global supply chains, undermine stability.
5. Institutional fatigue and fragmentation, characterized by the erosion of multilateralism, the rise of nationalist agendas, and a lack of forward-looking governance mechanisms.
The UN’s conventional security approach is ill-prepared to tackle both longstanding challenges and the evolving asymmetric threat environment. President Tinubu emphasized this by explicitly identifying terrorism, banditry, and insurgency as existential dangers, echoing the priorities outlined in Pillar 2 of the Pact: International Peace & Security.
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This intersection of economic and security concerns is critical:
1. Disrupting conflict financing: President Tinubu stressed the importance of combating illicit financial flows and recovering stolen assets as a direct strategy to weaken criminal and extremist groups. These illicit funds sustain instability, and cutting off these financial channels aligns with Pillar 1 of the Pact: Sustainable Development & Financing, which aims to reform global financial systems to foster stability and starve conflict actors of resources.
2. Addressing root causes: Tackling poverty, hunger, and social exclusion is central to preventing conflict, reflecting the Pact’s New Agenda for Peace. Nigeria’s advocacy for economic justice and debt relief is framed as a proactive defense strategy, investing in “freedom from want” to secure “freedom from fear.”
President Tinubu’s overarching message calls for a fundamental revision of the UN’s strategic framework. The Pact for the Future is positioned not just as a diplomatic initiative but as the essential roadmap for this transformation.
His emphasis on empowering youth and bridging the digital divide supports Pillars 3 (Digital Cooperation) and 4 (Youth and Future Generations) of the Pact. In security terms, this translates to:
- Combating online extremism: Reducing the digital gap and establishing robust digital governance are vital to countering radicalization and misinformation campaigns that destabilize societies.
- Proactive governance: The Pact’s focus on anticipatory governance aligns with Nigeria’s need to foresee and mitigate climate-related conflicts, such as disputes between farmers and herders, before they escalate.
By adopting a firm, security-focused stance, President Tinubu positions Nigeria not as a passive recipient but as a proactive partner in shaping a more resilient and adaptable global order. Utilizing the language and framework of the Pact for the Future, Nigeria advances its national security priorities. To ensure that this impactful speech translates into tangible outcomes, Nigeria should build upon the strategic dialogue held on August 29, 2025, at the UN Nigeria Office in Abuja, which focused on the country’s commitments to the Pact.
Kabir Adamu is the Managing Director of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited.