AU: Buhari discusses peace, security matters

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has, ahead of Sunday’s opening of the 30th African Union Summit, started his four-day engagement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Saturday by joining 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 a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on media and publicity, 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).

The statement added that 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 the Member States to promote peace, security and stability,” the statement said.