President Bola Tinubu on Sunday urged African leaders to take collective action against recurring xenophobic attacks in South Africa, telling the African Union that the violence threatens the continent’s unity and should be placed on the AU’s January 2027 agenda.
Speaking in Luanda, Angola, at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly, the President represented at the meeting by Vice President Kashim Shettima formally raised Nigeria’s concern over “xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Africans and other nationals in South Africa.”
In a statement by Stanley Nkwocha Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the Vice President, Tinubu said “While recognising South Africa’s sovereign right to enforce its immigration laws and acknowledging its contributions to the continent, Nigeria stresses that such attacks undermine African solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence, and require urgent collective attention.”
He asked the AU to include the issue on the agenda of the 40th Ordinary Session of the Assembly next January “for consideration and appropriate action.”
President Tinubu used his remarks to press for broader, continent-wide measures to prevent xenophobic violence, urging dialogue, preventive diplomacy and coordinated responses among member states.
He also endorsed the Luanda Action Plan as a practical roadmap for strengthening conflict prevention, saying prevention is “more cost-effective and sustainable” than responding to crises after they erupt.
The President warned that the AU’s conflict-prevention efforts risk being undermined by “fragmented peace initiatives and growing external interference through foreign military forces, mercenaries and private defence contractors.”
He urged member states to safeguard African ownership of security approaches.
The President called on arms-producing and exporting countries to cooperate in preventing weapons manufactured under their jurisdictions from being diverted to terrorists and other nonstate armed groups.
Tinubu praised the AU’s mechanisms for conflict prevention but said their effectiveness is hampered by limited trust among member states and inconsistent implementation.
NewsQuest reports that Nigeria signals support for sustainable, predictable financing for AU peace operations and for full operationalisation of UN Security Council Resolution 2719, which aims to strengthen the union’s capacity to respond to crises.
“Let us therefore renew our collective commitment to solidarity, cooperation, and shared responsibility as we build the Africa we want,” the statement quoted President Tinubu as telling fellow leaders.
