Nigerian Ambassador, Bankole ADEOYE, has had enough of the delays and lack of preparation for meetings of the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC). He made this abundantly clear in a letter sent to his staff on 5th September.The atmosphere is intense and electric within the Commission for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the African Union (PAPS-AU). For several weeks, the Nigerian Commissioner Bankole ADEOYE has struggled to contain his annoyance against certain directors and heads of departments. He reproaches them in particular for a “lack of cooperation in the preparation of the sessions of the Peace and Security Council”. These complaints were the subject of a very direct official letter written on September 5th and distributed to all staff under the responsibility of Bankole ADEOYE.
This three-page document, as underlined by “Africa Intelligence”, is entitled “Working documents for the Peace and Security Council processes”. It is mentioned in this paper the threat of “managerial consequences” if department officials continue to disregard the rules and do not make themselves more available in the preparatory work. The second page is also entirely devoted to the elements that the commissioner now systematically wants to find in all concept notes, briefings and reports that are intended for him personally, as well as for the chairperson of the AU commission; the Chadian Moussa Faki MAHAMAT.

The present (PAPS-AU) Commissioner, Bankole ADEOYE, is deemed as an experienced administrator who inherited a complicated legacy from his predecessor, the Algerian Smail Chergui, for the (PSC) staff is still dominated by some countries (South Africa, Namibia, and Algeria).

After serving as Nigeria’s ambassador to Ethiopia with competence over the AU, Bankole Adeoye was elected by all 55 members of the institution –an almost unprecedented case in the history of the AU- during the conference of heads of state in February 2021 in Addis Ababa. Previously, he was a long-time executive of the new partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) in South Africa, where he notably held the position of Chief of staff to Secretary General Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, whose last term was completed a few months ago. For a time, Adeoye was even a favorite to take over as manager of Nepad, before eventually being sent to Addis Ababa to represent Nigeria in 2018.