Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu declared Thursday that Palestinians are “not collateral damage” in a quest for global order, calling for an urgent two-state solution to end the cycle of violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict during his address to the United Nations General Assembly.
Speaking through Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the 80th session’s General Debate, Tinubu positioned Nigeria as a “peacemaker” rather than a partisan, drawing on the country’s own scars from insurgency to advocate for tolerance and civil values. “The people of Palestine are not collateral damage in a civilisation searching for order. They are human beings, equal in worth, entitled to the same freedoms and dignities that the rest of us take for granted,” he stated, condemning the “crossfire of violence that offends the conscience of humanity.”
Tinubu reaffirmed the two-state framework as “the most dignified path to lasting peace,” rejecting endless debates that trap human life in political corridors. “We do not believe that the sanctity of human life should be trapped in the corridors of endless debate. That is why we say, without stuttering and without doubt, that a two-state solution remains the most dignified path to lasting peace for the people of Palestine,” he said.
The address comes amid escalating tensions in the region, with Tinubu urging the international community to choose “civilised values over fear, over vengeance, over bloodshed” and to counter extremists exploiting religious and communal divides. He called for prioritising humanitarian intervention and global cooperation through multilateral platforms to foster collective security.
Tinubu’s remarks echo Nigeria’s longstanding support for Palestinian statehood while backing Israel’s right to exist, framing the solution as a moral imperative for both sides. No immediate reactions from world leaders or UN officials were available, but the speech aligns with broader African Union calls for de-escalation and justice in the conflict.
