I don’t want to see another war, says Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned against the present tension in the country degenerating into a war situation.    

Obasanjo spoke while responding to the wave of violent agitation in the Eastern part of the country for Biafra republic led by Nnamdi Kanu, Obasanjo in an interview with Newsweek Magazine in London.

“Those who fought in the war in Biafra will not want to fight any other war,” he said adding that “I have fought one war too many in Nigeria; I don’t want to see another.”

While noting that the army’s “heavy boot” response to pro-Biafra sentiment is “not the solution,” he also said that the secession craved by IPOB is not the way forward either.

To resolve the crisis, Obasanjo said there was nothing wrong with President Muhammadu Buhari meeting with Kanu.

“I don’t see anything wrong in that [Buhari meeting with Kanu]. I would not object to that; if anything, I would encourage it,” Obasanjo told Newsweek.

“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 southeast but from all parts of Nigeria.

“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,” Obasanjo said adding that  “There’s no easy way out.”

- The Nation