Vice President Kashim Shettima has declared that leaders of countries must always remember that cooperation is the compass and realistic path towards resolving the challenges besetting the people.

Shettima made the disclosure last Friday in his address to world leaders at the ongoing G77+China Leaders’ Summit at the Palace Convention Havana, Cuba.

Speaking to an assembly of Heads of State and Government, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres, and delegates from over 100 countries from the global South, Shettima emphasised the need to be focused, leveraging cooperation or partnership for finding realistic solutions to global challenges.

“We must not allow geopolitical tensions in any corner of the world to deter us from forging a collective and mutually advantageous path forward – a roadmap of shared prosperity and progress,” he advised.

The vice president expressed Nigeria’s commitment to toe the path of partnership with member-States of the G77+China towards addressing global challenges.

“Allow me to reiterate Nigeria’s commitment to partnering with our fellow member nations of the G77 and China.

“We shall champion initiatives that harness the potential of science, technology and innovation to confront economic challenges, particularly within the global south,” he pledged.

He underscored the prominent role science, technology and innovation have always played in resolving challenges from the past to the present. Delivering his speech titled, ‘From Pandemic to Paradigm Shift: Nigeria’s Road to Reinvention’, Shettima said that throughout history, science and technology have shaped the course of nations.

“The phases of the Industrial Revolution, from the first to the fourth, and from mechanisation to automation, have determined the prosperity of those nations.

“It is crucial to acknowledge that the developing world found itself at a disadvantage in the earliest phases of these transformations, struggling to compete fairly as these revolutions swept across the globe,” he noted.

The vice president told his audience that Nigeria has been contributing its own share in leveraging science, technology and innovation to resolving challenges such as COVID-19 and the climate crisis.

He explained that Nigeria “understand that the key to advancing innovation in science and technology lies in fostering a vibrant knowledge economy and facilitating the unrestricted exchange of ideas.”

This, the vice president said, is the reason “across the globe, one would be hard-pressed to identify a premier institution, even within the most developed nations, where a Nigerian, trained at home, is not contributing significantly, whether as a tech innovator or a medical specialist, in the noble pursuit of improving the human condition.”

On the efforts of the Federal Government to combat COVID-19 in Nigeria using science and technology, Shettima said, “the COVID-19 pandemic, while a tragic chapter, served as a catalyst for our brilliant minds in Nigeria to rejuvenate their pursuits in the fields of science and technology.”

He added that, “our scientists have successfully positioned our nation as a prominent global hub for mRNA vaccine production, a milestone currently in progress.”

Shettima, who lauded the contributions of the youth in the nation’s quest for science, tech and innovation advancement, emphasised: “Nigeria’s demographic advantage is not limited to the absence of an aging population. Nigeria stands as a beacon of youthful talent and innovation.

“These young citizens are not only dedicated to integrating human elements into the evolving technological sphere, but their efforts also extend to diverse fields, ranging from telemedicine to the automation of agriculture, all with the aim of making our daily lives more seamless.”

On the climate crisis, Shettima noted: “The climate crisis around the globe too has dominated our agenda, prompting our youthful innovators to engage in crafting solutions.

“This fervent commitment has resulted in the establishment of start-ups like the Climate Action Africa (CMA) Labs, a hub dedicated to addressing diverse challenges posed by climate change, including severe droughts, flooding and the escalating agricultural complexities.”

While stressing the imperative of global partnership, the vice president noted that the stakes are high, warning that, “if we fail to act now, the prevailing trend could imperil our attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Earlier in his welcome speech at the opening ceremony, the President of Cuba and Chair of G77+China, Miguel Diaz-Canel, lamented the precarious situations faced by developing countries that are member-States.

He noted that science, technology and innovation have only benefitted developed countries while the global South is largely still facing very serious development challenges. He, therefore, called for collective wisdom to address the challenges.

In his brief remarks, the UN Secretary-General also noted the development challenges confronting developing countries, promising that the UN system would continue to work with the G77+China to proffer solutions to these challenges.