A former Deputy Permanent Representatives of Nigeria to the United Nations (US), Ambassador Usman Sarki, has raised alarm over the growing impact of poverty and inequality, warning that they remain significant obstacles to global peace and security.

Ambassador Sarki made this assertion while speaking at the 2025 edition of the Diplomatic Dialogue Series, organised by the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD).

Delivering a lecture titled “The United Nations at 80 Years of Existence: The Achievements and Challenges in Global Peace and Security in the 21st Century”, the former diplomat underscored the dangerous link between unaddressed inequalities and the risk of social unrest, instability, and conflict, particularly in Africa.

“The unbridled exploitation of resources, especially in Africa, has left deep cleavages in many countries that could become the seeds of conflicts and severe stresses in future, if they are not addressed constructively with great perception and sensitivity,” he said.

Ambassador Sarki stressed that inequalities across wealth, gender, age, and social or economic status both within and between nations often serve as precursors to instability and social dislocation. He called for urgent global and national efforts to tackle these issues.

“The deployment of all tools to address them, and the adoption of relevant implementation strategies globally and nationally to mitigate their impacts, must be seen as existential issues that would have to be taken seriously,” he emphasized.

Sarki also touched on the growing tensions in international trade, highlighting the resurgence of trade wars and protectionist policies as new threats to global economic stability.

“International trade is once more threatened by reciprocal imposition of tariffs and restriction of privileges accorded by countries to one another in preferential trade arrangements,” he noted.

He pointed specifically to the ongoing trade standoff between the United States and China, warning that the ripple effects could push the global economy toward recession, with developing countries like Nigeria potentially bearing the brunt.

“Trade wars, in their nature, are blunt weapons that cause more harm to all sides involved and have the potential of veering off in all directions, inflicting pain on innocent bystanders as well,” he said.

Highlighting the economic vulnerability of nations heavily dependent on imported goods and raw material exports, Sarki warned that limited access to capital and investment — especially in times of global economic constriction — would make diversification a significantly challenging and costly pursuit.

In his remarks at the event, the founder of Afe Babalola University, Aare Afe Babalola, commended Ambassador Sarki for his insightful lecture, particularly for highlighting the core challenges confronting global peace and development.

Babalola expressed optimism about Nigeria’s future, stating that the country would undoubtedly overcome its challenges if such issues were confronted with commitment and clarity.