President Bola Ahmed Tinubu departed Abuja on Sunday, October 12, to travel to Rome, Italy, where he is set to participate in the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government Level Meeting. The meeting, with a special focus on security challenges in West Africa, is scheduled to commence on October 14.
A statement from Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, indicated that the summit will convene African heads of state, senior military and intelligence officials, and representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental bodies to deliberate on emergent threats to regional peace and stability.
According to the presidency, key security issues expected on the agenda include the expansion of terrorist networks, the growing alignment between crime syndicates and insurgent groups, the overlap between land-based conflict in the Sahel and maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and strategies to curb online radicalisation and terrorist propaganda.
On the margins of the meeting, President Tinubu is also slated to hold bilateral discussions with other world leaders to explore cooperation in intelligence sharing, joint border security, and coordinated counter-terrorism responses.
Accompanying the President on the trip are several top officials including the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed; and other senior government members.
Lens News gathered that the summit was launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan and co-chaired by Jordan and Italy, the Aqaba Process is a multilateral counter-terrorism platform designed to foster collaboration in tackling violent extremism, organized crime, and cross-border insecurity. Its 2025 edition is expected to reinforce regional response strategies amid mounting threats in West Africa.
As President Tinubu joins other African leaders in Rome for the summit, attention will be on the outcomes, especially commitments to intelligence fusion, joint operations, and mechanisms to stem the rising tide of insecurity affecting Nigeria and her neighbours.
