Vice President Kashim Shettima has returned to Abuja after representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government and the 30th AU General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A statement on Sunday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, confirmed that Shettima participated in the summit from February 14 to 15, 2026. The summit, themed “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063,” focused on advancing sustainable water management, improved sanitation, and broader development goals under the AU’s Agenda 2063 framework.
During the summit, Shettima engaged in high-level side events and bilateral meetings with political and business leaders to strengthen Nigeria’s diplomatic, economic, and strategic partnerships across Africa.
The statement noted that Shettima secured the goodwill of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who urged Nigeria to spearhead Africa’s push for a restructured global order, highlighting the country’s unique position to lead the continent toward superpower status.
On behalf of President Tinubu and Nigeria, Shettima called for a continental shift toward health security sovereignty, emphasising the need for Africa to rely less on foreign aid and develop self-sufficient, homegrown health systems.
At a high-level side event on “Building Africa’s Health Security Sovereignty,” the Vice President stressed that the move was crucial to ensure Africans’ health is not subject to uncertainties from distant supply chains or shifting global priorities.
