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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stated Monday that defence partnership among African countries must deliver the expected outcomes and value long after equipment has been supplied for intervention purposes.
President Tinubu stated this in his remarks at the opening ceremony of the Africa International Defence Exhibition (AFRIDEX) 2026 in Lagos state.
Represented by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu that every major acquisition should help develop skills, transfer knowledge, strengthen local industry and deepen our capacity to maintain what we operate.
The measure of a successful partnership, according to Tinubu, is the capability it leaves behind. African engineers must gain expertise; African enterprises must grow; African institutions must become stronger.
The same determination he added, must guide our support for African-led peace operations just as the courage to respond to crises must be matched by predictable resources, adequate equipment, rigorous training and sustained institutional support.
“Those we send to keep the peace must have the means to keep the peace.
“Africa Defence AFRIDEX must become a meeting point where military experience informs innovation, industry strengthens national capability, and partnerships deliver practical solutions.
“Our purpose is clear: to help build an Africa capable of defending its people and securing the peace upon which progress depends.
“We gather with a shared responsibility: to secure our nations, protect our people and safeguard Africa’s future. From the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel, from our territorial borders to cyberspace and outer space, the threats confronting us are becoming more complex and interconnected.
“They threaten lives and livelihoods, disrupt trade and weaken the foundations of development. Africa’s security must therefore command our collective attention, because there can be no enduring prosperity where fear governs daily life”, he said.
President Tinubu stressed further that “AFRIDEX 2026 marks a renewed determination to turn African potential into African capability.
“Let the partnerships formed here strengthen our readiness; let the knowledge exchanged here inspire our innovators; and let the commitments made here produce results our people can see.
“We owe them nations where peace creates opportunity, where service earns trust and where the future can be approached with confidence”, he added.
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