Nigeria has called for a stronger, better funded and self-reliant African peace and security architecture capable of addressing Africa’s evolving security challenges.
The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, made the call in her remarks at the opening ceremony of the Consultative Forum on Strengthening the Functional Performance of the African Union Peace and Security Architecture held in Abuja on 08 October 2026.
Against the backdrop of growing regional security threats, pressures on multilateralism and gaps in continental security frameworks, Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu also urged Africa to take greater responsibility in addressing its security challenges.
She decried the growing wave of terrorism on the African continent,
with armed groups increasingly using new technologies in their operations and funding their activities with proceeds of transnational organized crimes and illicit financial flows.
To bolster Africa’s peace and security frameworks, she urged African Sates to strengthen Continental Early Warning System, African mediatory initiatives and the African Peer Review Mechanism
(APRM). She also underscored the importance of building enduring national peace infrastructures, enhancing intelligence-sharing among African States, as well as paying greater attention to local grievances, youth unemployment and community resilience.
The Honourable Minister stressed the need for increased support for rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, and encouraged
African countries to leverage on AU Counter-Terrorism Centre (AUTC) for the coordination of continental counter-terrorism efforts.
While speaking on the importance of complementarity between AU Peace Fund and international funding commitments, including those of the United Nations (UN), the Minister emphasized the need to institutionalise predictable financing for AU-led operations.
She called for enhanced peace support operations through the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2719 as well as the full operationalisation of the African Standby Force (ASF) and
Regional Standby Forces.
Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu expressed optimism that the two-
day Forum would engender practical and implementable recommendations required to strengthen Africa’s collective capacity to prevent conflicts, respond to emerging threats and promote sustainable peace and security.
The Consultative Forum is focused on four priorities: mediation and preventive diplomacy; early warning and response; counter-terrorism; and peace support operations. Nigeria expects it to produce practical recommendations that would improve security coordination on the African continent, enhance financing for peace and strengthen the capacity of African institutions to effectively
respond to Africa’s security challenges.
This was contained in a statement signed by
Oluwafemi Adeniyi, Spokesperson
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja.
