Solution to Security Crisis in Africa “must first be political”: A Missionary Reflects

Referencing the two-day AU Summit that concluded Monday, February 10 at the body’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Ivorian missionary probed, “The fundamental question that many Africans are asking themselves is whether really from this summit will come concrete actions for the well-being of the African populations or will we once again have to attend to a daily routine because ultimately, summits on security in Africa follow one another and multiply for too meager results.”

In the considered opinion of the Togo-based missionary, “It is dramatic and unfortunate for the African populations, especially those of sub-Saharan Africa, who in addition to having to sleep in hunger because of extreme poverty, fear that they will not be able to see the break of day due to the violence, which prevails under all its forces, jihadism, terrorism, dictatorship etc.”

To change the security narrative of the world’s second most populous continent, Fr. Zagore recommends the “fundamental need to bring to life on the continent a political conscience in love with democracy rooted in an environment favorable to democracy.”

“It is also necessary that this political conscience, enamored of democracy, is capable of concrete actions to the detriment of a continuous and continual rhetoric by working seriously and in a tangible way in the implementation of the arrangements made with regard to the security of states and people,” he added.

According to Fr. Zagore, “one thing is certain, poverty and security are two interdependent realities. One cannot obviously speak of development without having first taken up the security challenge, and vice versa. The development of Africa essentially passes through its security.”

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