Africa: Xenophobia - Nigeria Urges AU to Take Stronger Action Against South Africa

What the report says

Nigeria has taken its concerns over repeated xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks in South Africa to the African Union, according to a Premium Times report distributed by AllAfrica. The appeal was made by President Bola Tinubu through Vice President Kashim Shettima at the AU’s 21st Extraordinary Session in Luanda, Angola, on 30 August 2026.

In the message, Nigeria asked AU leaders to treat the issue as an urgent continental matter and to place it on the agenda for the Assembly’s 40th ordinary session, scheduled for January 2027. The Nigerian position was that such attacks threaten African solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence, even while acknowledging South Africa’s right to enforce immigration laws and its wider role on the continent.

Beyond the South Africa issue, Tinubu used the forum to call for stronger African cooperation on peace and security. He backed the Luanda Action Plan as a practical conflict-prevention framework and argued that preventing conflict is less costly than responding after violence begins. He also warned that reliance on external military actors, mercenaries and private contractors can weaken African-led solutions.

The intervention matters because it places migration-related violence and broader security governance before the continent’s top political body. It also reflects Nigeria’s push for more coordinated AU action, including better financing for peace operations and stronger implementation of existing UN and AU mechanisms.