LANRE TOWRY-COKER, PhD.
Dr. Lanre Towry-Coker, FRIBA, FNIA, MA Law (UL), Ph.D, a former commissioner for housing in Lagos State, with a doctorate from Lagos State University, is founder of Towry-Coker Associates since 1976, and a professional architect with a postgraduate qualification in Architecture from the University of North East London. He had his professional training at the world famous Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in the United Kingdom (ACI.Arb.). Towry-Coker Associates was involved in the master plan of Abuja Federal Capital.
In recent months, developments in the Arab world have taken on a momentum that deserves the closest attention. Reports of possible normalisation between the United States and Syria, along with renewed diplomatic and strategic alignments across the region, signal a major geopolitical recalibration. While much of this is being discussed in Washington, Riyadh, and Damascus, Africa cannot afford to remain silent or absent from the conversation.
The African Union, as the political voice of the continent, must begin to think carefully — and quickly — about what these shifts mean for Africa. Not only because of proximity, but because of the many ways in which our destinies are intertwined with those of our Arab neighbours. From Libya to the Red Sea, from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa, the line dividing Africa from the Arab world is often more artificial than real. We share borders, cultures, histories — and increasingly, common challenges.
It would be impossible to speak of current security threats in the Sahel without recalling the consequences of the violent removal of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. That single event, destabilising in itself, unleashed a flood of arms and fighters into the heart of Africa, fuelling terrorist insurgencies and armed banditry from Mali to northern Nigeria. And when President Barack Obama, Prime Minister David Cameron and President Nicolas Sarkozy launched their illegal invasion of Libya, President Nelson Mandela of South Africa warned against it and its likely consequences. With the wisdom of an elderly hero who had already spent 27 years of his life in prison, his advice was totally ignored by those who had the military power. His words, tragically, proved prophetic. What we now face in the Sahel is not a local crisis — it is the direct result of a security vacuum that opened in North Africa and has not yet been sealed.
Equally important, and less often acknowledged, is the southward flow of extremist groups and combatants who, driven out of Syria, Libya, and northern Mali by international military campaigns, have regrouped in parts of West Africa. Boko Haram, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), and other factions now draw ideological and logistical strength from transnational networks that crisscross the Sahara. What began as isolated insurrections has evolved into a continental threat — one that demands diplomatic engagement with the Arab states from which these fighters and their arms continue to flow.
Africa, too, has had its share of internal conflict. But what often goes unrecognised is that we also have deep, practical experience in the difficult work of post-conflict reconstruction. From Sierra Leone and Liberia to Rwanda and Mozambique, African nations have carried out processes of reconciliation and rebuilding, often under the most testing conditions. In many of these cases, it was Nigerian troops who took the lead — serving under the United Nations flag in the Congo in the 1960s, and later leading ECOWAS missions in Liberia and Sierra Leone. These were not mere symbolic deployments. They were costly, difficult, and essential to the restoration of peace.
Unfortunately, Africans are too often spoken of as if we are simply recipients — of aid, of intervention, of instruction. This misperception must end. Africans are not beggars in global affairs. On the contrary, we have consistently contributed to the development of institutions beyond our borders. The late Professor Afolabi Olumide, a distinguished Nigerian academic, taught medicine in Saudi Arabia and helped lay the foundations for its modern medical system. In the oil and gas sector, Professor Toyin Ashiru also taught and provided technical expertise in Saudi Arabia, playing a significant role in one of the world’s most advanced energy economies.
These contributions, though rarely acknowledged, are real. They reflect Africa’s deep well of talent, skill, and intellect. No doubt they will come as a surprise to many unfamiliar with the extent to which Africans have helped shape the Arab world — not just with labour, but with knowledge and leadership.
Contrary to international and other propaganda on social and other media, Africa is not a poor continent. This harmful narrative persists, despite all evidence to the contrary. It behoves the African Union and individual African governments to urgently and actively work to correct this perception — both among Africans themselves and on the world stage. In fact, Africa possesses the largest known concentrations of nearly every strategic mineral required for modern civilization to survive. From cobalt, lithium, and gold to uranium, bauxite, and rare earth elements, the continent remains indispensable to global progress. What Africa has lacked is not wealth, but control — over narratives, over value chains, and over strategic decision-making. The time has come to assert not only our voice, but our value.
Now, as new geopolitical alignments take shape in the Arab world, the African Union must take a clear, strategic position. Whether through renewed engagement with the Arab League, quiet back-channel diplomacy, or a public statement of intent, the message must be sent that Africa is watching, listening, and ready to act in its own interest. Another digital divide may be opening — this time geopolitical. Now that President Trump has rewritten the rules for the Middle East, Africa risks losing out again unless it seizes the time.
The African Union was established to give Africa a coherent voice in the world. That voice should not fall silent at a moment like this. It should be firm, confident, and clear.
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