Olusegun Obasanjo Suggests New Anti-Boko Haram Strategy
Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria's former president, discussed the issue of the Boko Haram insurgency and the ways of tackling it during the African Export-Import Bank Annual General Meeting held in Zambia.
In the June 12 statement issued after the meeting Obasanjo noted that military operations alone could not end terrorism, either in Nigeria or other affected countries, The Punch reports.
Obi Emekekwue, Afrixembank’s spokesman, quoted Obasanjo:
"He proposed a carrot and stick solution to the conflicts on the continent through an approach involving military solutions and social development since a purely military approach would not work.
"According to Obasanjo, a situation, such as in Nigeria, where one section had an educational attainment level of 79 per cent while another had only 19 per cent, created room for conflict."
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Obasanjo also stressed the importance of economic integration on the basis of regional economic communities. The ex-leader of Nigeria said that by encouraging economic growth, each region of the continent would bring prosperity to Africa.
Speaking about Nigeria in particular, Obasanjo insisted that the country should give more focus to the local production.
"Former President Obasanjo added that Africa should start adding value to its commodities rather than exporting raw commodities only for those commodities to be sent back to the continent as finished goods.
In another development President Muhammadu Buhari, arrived in South Africa for the 25th African Union Summit Peace And Security Council meeting. He praised Nigeria's neighbours for "fighting side by side with Nigeria under the umbrella of the Multi-National Joint Task Force to defeat Boko Haram".
Source: Legit.ng
