A Critical Analysis of Africa’s Quest for Permanent Seat at United Nations Security Council

The article examined the issues of the United Nations‟ Security Council reform from the standpoint of Africa‟s quest for a permanent seat. The objective was to highlight the implications of Africa‟s demand for permanent representation on the council for the African body polity. The study employed the realist theory in interrogating the guest. It also used the qualitative method of data analysis. Findings show that Africa‟s guest for the enlargement of the Security Council is in tandem with the popular opinion of the international community for the reform of the Security Council to make it more amendable to emerging realities of the international system. However, Africa has a burden of justifying her demand for a permanent seat, given that the expected outcome of the reform of the Security Council – promoting the values of democracy, justice, equity, balance, legitimacy, among others are in extremely short supply in the continent. The work therefore, concludes that Africa‟s guest for a permanent seat invariably places a huge burden of responsibility on African leaders to look inwards to improve governance practices on the continent. Accordingly, it recommended reforms of the inherited colonial institutions and policies of injustice and oppression in order to address the fundamental causes of conflicts, underdevelopment and poverty among member states.

Keywords: Reform, Ezulwini Consensus, Security Council, International Community, Power