Ahead of tomorrow’s opening of the 30th African Union Summit, President Muhammadu Buhari has started his four-day engagement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Saturday.
He has joined a meeting including 14 other members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC), a standing organ of the AU for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, the meeting is discussing the persistence of violent conflicts and crisis situations in some parts of the continent, upsurge of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees, climate change and its consequences as well as the issue of the derailment of national development programmes.
The meeting is essentially reviewing the situations in Somalia, South Sudan, Libya, Guinea Bissau, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
It is also discussing the situation in Lake Chad Basin, the regional efforts to combat Boko Haram as well as the situation in Mali and the Sahel region which continues to be a source of deep concern despite efforts by the countries of the region and the United Nations.
The PSC’s major duty is to “conduct early warning and preventive diplomacy, facilitate peace-making, establish peace-support operations and, in certain circumstances, recommend intervention in member states to promote peace, security and stability.
Buhari on Friday left Abuja for Ethiopia for the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU).
The president is expected to speak on anti-corruption war under the theme: “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.”
It is the first time in the 54-year history of the AU that anti-corruption will be made a theme of the gathering of the regional leaders.
Buhari was in July last year at the 29th Session of the AU, appointed to champion the fight against corruption on the continent.
The appointment was in recognition of his personal commitment and widely acclaimed anti-graft drive at the domestic level.
