Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advised President Muhammadu
Buhari to dialogue with the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra,
Nnamdi Kanu, to curb the secessionist agitations instead of the
deployment of soldiers in the South-East.
Obasanjo said this during an interview with the Newsweek Magazine.
The former President said, “I don’t see anything wrong in that (Buhari meeting with Kanu). I would not object to that; if anything, I would encourage it.
“I would want to meet Kanu myself and talk to people like him,
people of his age, (and ask) ‘What are your worries?’ Not only from the
South-East but from all parts of Nigeria (sic).”
Obasanjo, who led the final offensive that brought the civil war to
an end in 1970, said he had seen too many wars and it was time for
Nigeria to move on.
He said he believed that enough dialogue had not been done by both
the government and several groups. The former President, however, said
secession was not the answer.
He said, “Those who fought in the war in Biafra will not want
to fight any other war. I fought in that war and it was an unfortunate
war and I said I had fought one war too many in Nigeria; I don’t want to
see another.
“The heavy boot is not the solution. I believe also whatever
may be the frustration of any youth in any part of Nigeria; I believe
secession is not the solution.”
The former President, who was also the military head of state from
1976–1979, said economic development in the country was the only way to
solve the various agitations across the country.
Some Igbo leaders have complained that President Buhari, who hails
from northern Nigeria, has prioritised the development of other parts of
the country to their detriment.
“We need to satisfy the youth in job creation, in wealth
creation, in giving them a better, fulfilled life, in giving them hope
for the future. There’s no easy way out,” he said.