Border Commission DG supports negotiation and brotherhood in border governance – Blueprint Newspapers Limited

The Abidjan Border Forum 2026 concluded in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, with a call for African countries to consider borders not just as lines of separation, but as spaces of integration, culture and security.

The three-day Forum, which took place from 20 to 22 October 2026, with the theme “People at Borders: Culture, Integration and Security”, was declared open by the Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, Robert Beugré Mambé, while the President of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, delivered the inaugural speech.

The Forum, institutionalized by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in February 2025 as a continental platform for border governance in Africa, builds on the African Union Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation, a key instrument of the “bottom-up integration” approach of the AU border governance strategy.

Speaking at the event, the Director General of the National Boundary Commission of Nigeria, Surveyor Adamu A. Adaji, stressed the need to negotiate border demarcation in the spirit of African brotherhood and with due consideration to the interests of local communities.

“It is necessary to negotiate the delimitation of the borders in the spirit of African brotherhood and taking into account the interests of local communities,” Adaji said.

The DG cited the resolution of border disputes between Nigeria and Cameroon as a successful model, which moved from tensions and disputes to diplomatic roundtables, paving the way for effective cross-border cooperation between the two countries.

The Forum highlighted that cross-border cultural exchanges, community dialogue and joint initiatives can strengthen mutual trust and reduce security challenges.

Key resolutions of the Forum include the need to ratify the African Union Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation and the institutionalization of local cross-border cooperation to enable local authorities and border communities to identify emerging threats, share information, address local tensions and support early warning and timely response mechanisms.

It is worth noting that Nigeria, through the National Boundaries Commission, ratified the AU Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation in 2023. This facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Republic of Benin on Local Cross-Border Cooperation on 18 August 2025.

The MoU provides a framework for collaboration between the border local government areas of Nigeria and the border communes of Benin, including traditional rulers and other local stakeholders.

“Both countries are now working to operationalize the MoU to move it beyond a diplomatic engagement to a functioning mechanism that delivers tangible benefits to border communities and safeguards Nigeria’s national security.

The Director-General expressed appreciation to the Government and people of Côte d’Ivoire, the African Union and other development partners for supporting the successful organization of the 2026 Abidjan Border Forum.