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Nigerian President Bola Tinubu returned to Abuja on Saturday after attending the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government Meeting held in Rome, Italy.
The Aqaba Process, a counter-terrorism initiative launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan, is jointly chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Italian government.
This year’s Rome edition focused on enhancing regional and international cooperation in combating terrorism and violent extremism, with a particular focus on West Africa.
The high-level meeting took place on Wednesday, October 15, at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome. Attendees included King Abdullah II of Jordan, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Other participants included Azouz Nasri, President of Algeria’s Upper House, along with delegations from Côte d’Ivoire, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Senegal, and Uzbekistan, as well as special envoys and security experts. The discussions were held behind closed doors.
According to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, President Tinubu held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Massad Boulos, Senior Adviser on Arab and African Affairs to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Tinubu also met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, to discuss promoting religious harmony in Nigeria and addressing misinformation portraying the country as intolerant of religious diversity.
Since its creation in 2015, the Aqaba Process has hosted 33 meetings ranging from heads of state summits to technical sessions, built around three main pillars: prevention, coordination, and bridging operational gaps in counter-terrorism efforts.
