President Bola Tinubu has asked the African Union to take collective action against recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks targeting Africans and other foreign nationals in South Africa.
Tinubu made the appeal on Sunday at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Luanda, Angola, where he was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The President urged African leaders to place the issue on the agenda of the AU’s 40th Ordinary Session scheduled for January 2027, arguing that continued attacks against Africans threaten the continent’s unity and peaceful coexistence.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, Tinubu acknowledged South Africa’s right to enforce its immigration laws but said such authority should not be accompanied by violence or hostility towards other Africans.
“While recognising South Africa’s sovereign right to enforce its immigration laws and acknowledging its contributions to the continent, Nigeria stresses that such attacks undermine African solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence, and require urgent collective attention,” he said.
Tinubu called for greater use of dialogue, preventive diplomacy and coordinated continental action to address xenophobia and Afrophobia.
Turning to Africa’s wider security challenges, the President supported the proposed Luanda Action Plan, describing conflict prevention as a more sustainable approach than responding after violence has erupted.
“For Nigeria, conflict prevention remains more cost-effective and sustainable than conflict management,” he said.
He warned that the increasing involvement of foreign military forces, mercenaries and private defence contractors in African conflicts could undermine the AU’s ability to lead its own peace and security initiatives.
“The growing reliance on external actors risks weakening African institutions and the principle of African ownership,” he said.
The President also called for closer cooperation between African countries and arms-producing nations to prevent weapons and ammunition manufactured abroad from being diverted to terrorist groups and other armed non-state actors operating on the continent.
He noted that although the AU had established mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution, distrust among member states and poor implementation continued to limit their effectiveness.
Nigeria, he said, also supported predictable and sustainable funding for AU-led peace operations and urged the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2719 to strengthen the continent’s capacity to respond to conflicts.
Tinubu further encouraged African countries to rely more on homegrown solutions to the continent’s security and development challenges.
“Let us therefore renew our collective commitment to solidarity, cooperation, and shared responsibility as we build the Africa we want,” he said.
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