The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has returned to Abuja after representing President Bola Tinubu at the 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government and the 30th AU General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, held on Friday and Saturday.
His return was confirmed in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha.
On the sidelines of the summit, Shettima met with the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, who urged Nigeria to spearhead Africa’s call for a restructured global order. Guterres described Nigeria as uniquely positioned to help steer the continent toward superpower status.
Addressing the summit, the Vice President advocated a decisive shift toward health security sovereignty across Africa. He called on African nations to reduce dependence on foreign aid and invest in resilient, self-sustaining, homegrown health systems.
The summit, themed “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063,” convened African leaders to advance commitments on sustainable water management, improved sanitation, and the broader development aspirations outlined in the AU’s Agenda 2063 framework.
Shettima also participated in high-level side events and held bilateral meetings with political and business leaders, aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s diplomatic, economic, and strategic partnerships across the continent.
Speaking in Addis Ababa, the Vice President stressed the urgency of insulating Africa’s health systems from external shocks.
“It has become a necessity to ensure that the health of Africans is not subjected to the uncertainties of distant supply chains or the shifting priorities of global crisis response,” he said.
So far, Shettima has spent 73 days abroad, visiting 16 countries across 22 official trips. He has travelled more than 43,000 nautical miles (approximately 79,000 kilometres) and logged over 93 flight hours.
His international engagements have taken him to Rome, Italy; St. Petersburg, Russia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Havana, Cuba; Beijing, China; Iowa and New York in the United States (three times); Davos, Switzerland (three times); Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire (twice); Nairobi, Kenya; Stockholm, Sweden; Baku, Azerbaijan; Liberia; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Conakry, Guinea.
