African leaders, including the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Saturday met at the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to discuss the continent’s most pressing challenges, including a new wave of coups in West Africa and a slow response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The African Union, which was formed about 20 years ago, has often been criticised for its inconsistent and slow responses to pressing issues across the continent.
Ahead of the summit, the bloc’s most recent major decision was to suspend Burkina Faso after mutinous soldiers ousted democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore in a coup, citing his inability to stem Islamic extremist violence.
That decision came after the West African regional bloc ECOWAS had suspended Burkina Faso.
West Africa’s new wave of coups began in 2020 in Mali, followed by another in Guinea the following year, and then Burkina Faso in late January.
Just a week later, gunmen tried and failed to overthrow the President of Guinea-Bissau, while deadly conflicts were recorded in some countries, including Mozambique to Ethiopia.
The AU Commission Chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, told leaders at the opening ceremony that the security situation in Africa required the bloc to take a new approach and called for “more active inter-African solidarity,” Reuters stated.
The International Crisis Group said in a statement published by online sources that securing a cease-fire in Ethiopia, supporting dialogue in the Sahel and reforming the African Union Mission in Somalia should be among the African Union’s priorities this year.
However, Human Rights Watch urged the Senegalese President, Macky Sall, to focus on civilian protection, justice and accountability as he takes up the presidency of the African Union.
Meanwhile, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has said that Nigeria will continue to pursue peace and progress in Africa, and other parts of the world, by consistently pushing for justice, fairness and inclusiveness in global affairs.
The President’s spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, said the President spoke at a sideline meeting with the Prime Minister of Palestine, Mohammad Shtayyeh, at the ongoing African Union meetings, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
