Nigeria has launched a campaign for a permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council, citing the size and population of the oil rich west African country as factors for consideration, Ghana News Agency reported on Sunday.

"Nigeria is a regional power in its own right. It is a potential economic giant. With an estimated population of 130 million, Nigeria is easily the largest single market in Africa," Abdullahi Adamu, executive governor of Nasarawa state of Nigeria, was quoted as saying at the weekend in Accra, the capital of Ghana.

Adamu, who was a guest speaker at the launch of a 319-page book that eulogized the foreign policies of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, at a seaside hotel in Accra, said his country was the most populous black nation in the world.

"One out of every four Africans is a Nigerian. One out of every five blacks in the world is a Nigerian," he said, attracting cheers at the function attended by Ghana's Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama and ministers of state from the two west African countries.

Adamu said although the UN effected some reforms in 1965 by increasing the membership of the Security Council from 11 to 15, no change was made to the five permanent members structure.

He said at that time the world was divided rather neatly between the Western and Eastern blocs with the non-aligned nations constituting themselves into swing support for one or the other group as circumstances dictated.

"All these have changed in the 40 years since the reforms. The time calls for some fundamental reforms in the United Nations Security Council in line with contemporary global developments," he noted.

Adamu said military prowess or the possession of means and weapons of mass destruction could no longer be the sole determinant of the relevance of a nation to do its duty to the international community.

Adamu said "Africa and the peoples of Africa face new struggles and new challenges. The challenges of illiteracy, health care delivery system, poor communications, unemployment, rural-urban drift and of course, poverty are enormous."

In Africa's current struggle, President Obasanjo had emerged as Africa's rallying point, he added.

Alhaji Mahama, who launched the book, "Obasanjo And The New Face Of Nigeria's Foreign Policy", described President Obasanjo as "a proven colossus of international relations," who had played a role in dealing with sectional and other bloody conflicts in the west African sub-region.

Source: Xinhua