Osinbajo canvasses peace, security at AU Summit

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Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has challenged African leaders to affirm their readiness to tackle root causes of violence.

In his address to African leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the 29th session of the African Union (AU) summit, Prof Osinbajo explained that peace and security should be paramount in the individual countries.

The Acting President said:“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 ensure 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.

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“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”.