An extraordinary African Union (AU) summit on the state of peace and security on the continent, held in Addis Ababa recently has provided a platform for African leaders to devise ways of tackling insecurity and unrest witnessed on the continent .

The Assembly reiterated the need to protect the civilian population, called for an immediate end to all attacks and demanded a ceasefire as per the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973.

In his address to the African leaders the acting President of Nigeria ,  Yemi Osinbajo, has asked African leaders to affirm their readiness to a comprehensive approach in addressing the root causes of violence in countries and on the continent adding that said peace and security should be paramount in the individual countries.

Osinbajo who is back to the country called on the U.N to continue to reinforce their support for Africa’s peace and security agenda such as the complementarity between Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He noted that: “As a first step, we must ensure the full implementation of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), especially the operationalisation of the African Standby Force (ASF) and the Peace Fund.

“In particular, the Government of Nigeria reiterates the need for the Peace and Security Council to work towards removing all distractions and impediments to the full attainment of operational capacity of the African Standby Force.

To the larger issue of security and stability, which were the trigger and the main agenda for the  Summit, he stated that for the effectiveness of the African Union peace support operations, the Regional Economic Communities and relevant international bodies, especially the United Nations must remain strategic pillars of peace, security and development of the Continent as envisioned in Agenda 2063.

“We must redouble our efforts and without equivocation avail the necessary resources, in order to successfully achieve the goals set out in Agenda 2063. We need to rekindle our political will and determination not to bequeath to the next generation of Africans the burden of wars, poverty and misery. It is therefore necessary for the Assembly to reaffirm the overriding importance of holistically addressing the root causes of violent conflicts in our countries,” the Acting President stressed.