New york: President Bola Tinubu has implored the African Union (AU) to reinvigorate diplomacy as the primary and most effective means of conflict resolution in Africa. Tinubu made the call during a meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council at the level of Heads of State and Government. This meeting was held on the sidelines of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the Nigerian leader, represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, acknowledged the role played by the AU’s Peace Support Operations (PSOs), a unit designed to maintain, monitor, and build peace in Africa. Tinubu noted that with the current UN administration and the growing interest by traditional partners in conflicts outside Africa, it was becoming increasingly difficult for countries to shoulder the total cost of peace support operations on the continent.
He emphasized the importance of maintaining a diplomatic approach in conflict prevention and resolution endeavors
. Tinubu urged the council to ensure that future peace operations, particularly UN-mandated ones, incorporate diplomatic and political strategies to address the root causes of conflict. He also called for strategies that would allow national and local institutions to effectively manage shocks and challenges.
Tinubu further warned against external interference in African crises, highlighting the presence of foreign military forces, mercenaries, and defense contractors in some AU states. He stated that such meddling contradicts the African Conflict Prevention and Resolution Initiatives. The president called on the council to adopt a communique to address loopholes in conflict resolution and to consider the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of foreign forces from member countries.
Additionally, Tinubu stressed the need for the council to address obstacles to the operationalization of the African standby force and to adopt a strategy for its deployment in conflict situations. He suggested that the council
would be more successful if it regularly coordinated, consulted, and strategically engaged with similar structures or mechanisms of regional economic communities.
Tinubu emphasized the importance of solidarity in conflict prevention and resolution on the continent, advocating for the avoidance of working in silence. He pointed out that while the AU has adequate mechanisms for conflict prevention, there is a lack of trust in processes and institutions, as well as inconsistency in applying normative instruments.
Tinubu urged the council to encourage AU member states to commit to its peace and conflict resolution processes. He also welcomed the practice of appointing Special Envoys to countries in conflict but emphasized the need to equip these envoys with necessary skills to become effective instruments for conflict prevention or de-escalation.
Finally, Tinubu underscored the importance of adequate funding and logistics for Peace Support Operations and expressed support for the operationalization of UN Secur
ity Council Resolution 2719 on Somalia. This, he noted, aligns with the UN Security Council’s responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.
Earlier, Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union and Head of the UN Office to the African Union, expressed concern over the surge in armed conflict and dwindling funding for peace interventions in Africa. He urged member countries to establish their own national peace-building and conflict prevention mechanisms, emphasizing that prevention must start at home in line with the United Nations Charter.