Nigeria has restated its commitment to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), urging the international community to step up sustainable financing to safeguard the fragile gains made in the country.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, made the call at a High-Level Meeting on AUSSOM financing held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
In a statement released on Saturday by Alkasim Abdulkadir, his media aide, Tuggar praised AUSSOM troops and police officers for their sacrifices and extended solidarity to the families of those killed or injured in the line of duty.
He noted that while Somalia’s security forces and AUSSOM had recorded progress against Al-Shabab, the mission was being undermined by severe operational and financial shortfalls, including unpaid troop allowances, inadequate force generation, and the lack of critical tools such as satellite imagery and operational equipment.
“The current funding arrangement for AUSSOM is unpredictable, inadequate, and unsustainable,” Tuggar said, warning that Somalia risked sliding back into instability if urgent interventions were not made.
He emphasized that AUSSOM was a global public good, serving the UN’s strategic interest in combating terrorism in Africa, and urged the United Nations to fully implement its funding obligations under Security Council Resolution 2719.
