President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has returned to Abuja after participating in the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government-level Meeting held in Rome, Italy, where global leaders discussed strengthening cooperation in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
The Aqaba Process, launched in 2015 by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, is a counter-terrorism initiative co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Government of Italy.
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The Rome edition of the high-level summit focused on enhancing regional and international collaboration against terrorism, with particular emphasis on the West African region.
The meeting, which took place on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome, was attended by several Heads of State and Government, including King Abdullah II of Jordan, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the Presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
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Other notable participants included Azouz Nasri, President of Algeria’s Upper House; delegations from Côte d’Ivoire, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Senegal, and Uzbekistan; as well as special envoys and counter-terrorism experts. The session was held behind closed doors.
On the sidelines of the event, President Tinubu held bilateral meetings with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Massad Boulos, Senior Adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump on Arab and African Affairs.
The Nigerian leader also met with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, where discussions focused on promoting interfaith harmony in Nigeria and addressing disinformation campaigns that misrepresent the country as intolerant of religious diversity.
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Since its inception, the Aqaba Process has convened 33 meetings at various levels, from Heads of State summits to technical expert sessions. The initiative is anchored on three key pillars: prevention, coordination, and closing operational gaps in global counter-terrorism efforts.