President Bola Tinubu is expected to return to Abuja on Saturday (today), after participating in the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government-level Meeting in Rome, Italy.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement, said the Rome edition had focused on strengthening regional and international collaboration in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism, with particular attention to West Africa.
The Aqaba Process, is counter-terrorism initiative launched by King Abdullah II of Jordan in 2015.
It is co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Government of Italy.
The high-level meeting was held on Wednesday, October 15, at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome. Many heads of State and Government attended, including King Abdullah II of Jordan, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the Presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Azouz Nasri, President of Algeria’s Upper House, delegations from Côte d’Ivoire, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Senegal, and Uzbekistan, special envoys, and security experts were also in attendance.
The meeting was held behind closed doors.
On the sidelines of the event, President Tinubu held bilateral meetings with Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister and Massad Boulos, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Senior Adviser on Arab and African Affairs.
President Tinubu also met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, to discuss religious harmony in Nigeria. The meeting addressed the widespread disinformation campaigns that falsely portray the country as intolerant of religious diversity.
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Since its establishment in 2015, the Aqaba Process has convened 33 meetings at various levels, from Heads of State summits to technical expert sessions.
It is built on three core pillars: prevention, coordination, and closing operational gaps in counterterrorism efforts.
