Africa Chiefs of Defence Staff on Wednesday ended the maiden African Chiefs of Defence Staff Summit in Abuja and resolved to join forces to tackle the growing menace of terrorism, violent extremism, cyber and maritime security threats on the continent.
Addressing the closing ceremony, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, said this gathering reinforced the truth that Africa’s collective security lies not in the strength of one nation alone, but in the synergy of all efforts.
He said, “We have recognised that our strongest defence is strategic collaboration. This summit is a declaration of Africa’s determination to take ownership of its peace, stability, and future. We explored key areas, including defence collaboration, intelligence sharing, joint training, investing in indigenous technologies, and youth engagement.
“Through our discussions, we reaffirmed our collective strengths in the face of complex challenges like terrorism, autonomy, criminal Power Conflict, Criticism, terrorism piracy and cyber warfare.
“In the first plenary of this summit discussed the need for more effective border management and regional security cooperation was discussed. During this discussion, we recognise that porous borders fuel terrorism, trafficking and armed banditry, and we stress the need for integrated security frameworks to address these challenges.
“It was evident that sharing intelligence, conducting joint operations and conducting and coordinating counter-radicalisation efforts are essential counter-radicalisation efforts that remain non-negotiable as terrorism anywhere on our continent is a threat to peace everywhere in Africa.”
CDS Musa further explained that the discussion at the summit also centred on how they could exploit artificial intelligence and emerging technologies in bolstering early warning systems, improving situational awareness and disrupting hostile networks.
He added that the summit also agreed on ways to improve Africa’s defence system by leveraging public-private partnerships, to ensure suitable defence, while also developing indigenous defence industries.
He announced Nigeria’s readiness to host an international defence exhibition in Lagos next year.
He said that the adoption of the summit’s communique was an optimism that they would all take proactive steps to elevate the African continent to greatness.
According to him, ” we also agreed not to let these rich discussions remain within these conference halls, let us effectively translate our recommendations into policies, strategies and joint actions, let this summit be a turning point for decisive and collective actions as we plan towards the next summit.”
