President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has returned to Abuja after participating in the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government Meeting held in Rome, Italy.
The summit, hosted on Wednesday, October 15, at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, brought together global leaders to strengthen regional and international collaboration against terrorism and violent extremism, with a special focus on West Africa.
The Aqaba Process, launched in 2015 by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Government of Italy, serves as a strategic platform for coordination among nations confronting extremist threats.
Among the dignitaries at the Rome meeting were King Abdullah II, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the Presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Also in attendance were Azouz Nasri, President of Algeria’s Upper House, as well as delegations from Côte d’Ivoire, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Senegal, and Uzbekistan.
Discussions were held behind closed doors and focused on practical strategies to strengthen intelligence sharing, operational cooperation, and preventive counterterrorism measures.
On the sidelines of the summit, President Tinubu held bilateral talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and U.S. President Donald Trump’s Senior Adviser on Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos.
The President also met with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to discuss religious harmony in Nigeria. Their conversation addressed the persistent disinformation campaigns that seek to portray Nigeria as a nation divided along religious lines.
Since its inception a decade ago, the Aqaba Process has convened 33 sessions across various levels—from expert gatherings to Heads of State meetings—built on three core pillars: prevention, coordination, and closing operational gaps in counterterrorism efforts.
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