Tinubu Warns Against Mercenaries As Africa Debates Its Security Future
By ANITA KNIGHT
AT the 7th African Union–European Union Summit in Luanda, President Bola Tinubu delivered a firm message: Africa must not outsource its security to private military contractors. Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the president warned that the growing use of private security companies in African conflict zones undermines state authority, distorts accountability and complicates counter-terrorism operations.
Speaking during the summit’s opening plenary on Peace, Security, Governance and Multilateralism, Tinubu stressed that Africa’s security challenges—from terrorism and banditry to organised crime—require coordinated government-led solutions, not parallel forces with unclear mandates. He noted that Nigeria’s stance reflects its long history of contributing to AU and ECOWAS peace missions, where member states take responsibility for stabilising their own regions.
Tinubu also cautioned that a global retreat from multilateralism has left the world’s most fragile regions more vulnerable. He described the EU as one of the few partners still engaging Africa on equal footing and called for deeper collaboration anchored on African-designed frameworks. According to him, genuine stability depends on preventive diplomacy, inclusive governance and sustained investment in institutions and human capital.
The president used the platform to intensify Africa’s push for permanent, veto-wielding representation on the UN Security Council, arguing that global governance cannot remain unchanged while the continent bears the brunt of global insecurity, illicit arms flows and climate-linked displacement. He urged the EU to support Africa’s long-standing demand for reform, saying negotiations must move beyond rhetoric to concrete commitments.
Tinubu highlighted Nigeria’s mixed strategy—combining kinetic operations with deradicalisation and community reintegration—which he said has led to massive surrenders by Boko Haram-affiliated fighters and their families. Over 120,000 individuals surrendered by early 2025, he noted, demonstrating the effectiveness of coordinated, African-led security structures such as the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Basin. He also referenced a new Sea-Lift Agreement between the Nigerian Navy and the AU Standby Force, designed to improve rapid response to crises across the continent.
On migration, Tinubu urged Europe to adopt approaches that recognise economic realities rather than criminalising movement. He proposed labour mobility frameworks, including expanded technical cooperation and business-process outsourcing, to provide legal pathways that reduce irregular migration pressures while supporting Europe’s ageing workforce. Seasonal mobility, he argued, has long shaped West African societies; the policy task now is to channel it into safe and productive routes.
Tinubu further condemned democratic backsliding in Africa, linking recent coups to external pressures and internal fragilities. He outlined Nigeria’s Regional Partnership for Democracy—an initiative aimed at strengthening constitutional order, countering extremist propaganda and improving governance across West Africa. He also called for sustained international pressure on actors fuelling conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan, warning that prolonged instability threatens millions.
Beyond the summit hall, security anxieties continued to rise at home. In a separate statement, former Minister of External Affairs and current Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs Governing Council, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, urged President Tinubu to declare a nationwide state of emergency on security. Citing recent high-profile killings and mass abductions, including the murder of Brigadier General Musa Uba and the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolchildren, Akinyemi called for extraordinary measures.
He proposed suspending military retirement laws, recalling recently retired officers and launching a nationwide recruitment drive to strengthen Nigeria’s overstretched armed forces. Drawing parallels with World War II and the Nigerian Civil War, he argued that exceptional times justify exceptional reforms.
Akinyemi also recommended suspending governors’ constitutional immunity during the emergency period to hold them accountable for unchecked terrorist activity within their states—adding that chronic insecurity might warrant temporary military administration. He urged the establishment of a military tribunal with the power to impose maximum penalties, including the death sentence, on terrorists and collaborators.
For both Tinubu and Akinyemi, the message is the same: Nigeria and Africa stand at a critical security crossroads. While the president champions African-led, multilateral partnerships on the continental stage, domestic voices are demanding a far more forceful internal response as insecurity continues to test the nation’s resilience.
