Former President
Olusegun Obasanjo says President Muhammadu Buhari must meet with Nnamdi Kanu,
leader of the secessionist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), before the
ongoing crisis gets out of hand.
In
a report monitored on Friday by TheCable, Obasanjo 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.”
Talking to Newsweek,
Obasanjo, who as president met with Niger Delta militant leaders in 2006 to
stop attacks on oil installations, said: “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.”
He
said the army’s “heavy boot” response to pro-Biafra sentiment is “not the
solution” but adds that the secession craved by IPOB is not the way forward
either.
“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.
The
military has been accused of human rights abuses since it launched operations to
curtail the agitation, although the authorities have denied any wrong doing.
On
Friday, the military authorities declared IPOB as a “military terrorist group”
— effectively classifying them along Boko Haram and Ansaru who are campaigning
for the Islamisation of Nigeria.
- The Cable
No comments:
Post a Comment