Video: Shettima returns to Abuja after representing Tinubu at AU summit
Abdullateef Fowewe
Vice President Kashim Shettima has returned to Abuja after representing President Bola Tinubu at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Luanda, Angola.
Shettima’s spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha said the Vice President concluded Nigeria’s engagements at the high-level continental meeting, where the Federal Government pushed for stronger African-owned approaches to conflict prevention, peacebuilding and security financing.
“Vice President Kashim Shettima has returned to Nigeria following his participation at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Luanda, Angola,” the statement said.
The summit focused on strengthening mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution across Africa, including early warning systems, preventive diplomacy, coordination among African institutions and sustainable financing for peace and security initiatives.
Representing President Tinubu, Shettima conveyed Nigeria’s call for African countries to take greater responsibility for resolving conflicts on the continent.
“Nigeria called for stronger African-led mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution,” the spokesman said, adding that the country also demanded “urgent continental action against recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks on Africans and other nationals in South Africa.”
Nigeria urged the African Union to address the attacks, arguing that they undermine the principles of African solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence.
Tinubu, through the Vice President, also called for the matter to be placed before the AU’s 40th Ordinary Session scheduled for January 2027.
At the Luanda meeting, Nigeria backed the adoption of the Luanda Action Plan, which is aimed at improving the continent’s capacity to prevent conflicts, tackle their root causes and strengthen the African peace and security architecture.
The plan and its implementation matrix were adopted at the summit.
The spokesman said Nigeria also advocated “sustainable financing of Africa’s peace and security architecture, stronger collective responsibility among AU member states and greater African ownership of solutions to conflicts on the continent.”
A video released after the trip showed Shettima disembarking from a Nigerian Air Force aircraft in Abuja and exchanging greetings with military and civilian officials on the tarmac, confirming his return following the Angola engagements.
