In a recent interview, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Former President of Nigeria has expressed satisfaction with the progress made so far by the military in the fight against the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents insisting that the soldiers are leafy having an upper hand and they are winning the war against terrorism in the country.
Obasanjo who was at the Presidential Villa spoke to Correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday and also urged the President to learn from Colombians how they have coped with insurgency in their country for the past fifty years.
The former President also said he briefed Buhari on the outcome of the task of reconciling the feuding factions in Guinea Bissau given to him by the Commonwealth. He assured that a new Prime Minister would be selected to lead the beleaguered African country in a couple of days.
When quizzed why he took the long trip to the Villa, Obasanjo said
“Let me just let you know that I have come to see the President for two reasons. The first one is the one you have just seen. I brought a delegation of those of us who visited Columbia last year under the auspices of a foundation which I am the chairman.
“We went to Columbia to see how all the Columbian authorities were handling the issue of insurgency which had been with them for more than 50 years.
“As a result of that visit and the experience we had, a book was produced and I said to them that it will be interesting for us in Nigeria to learn as much as we can learn from the experience of Columbia.
“The second aspect of my visit was the work that both the President and the ECOWAS gave me in Guinea Bissau.
“The last time, we were able to resolve all the issues of getting a new Prime Minister. This time, we had also been able to resolve the issue of now forming a government.
“If nothing intervenes, I believe between today and tomorrow, a new government will be in place in Guinea Bissau. They have been without government for almost two months.
When I was there, I praised the restraint of the general public and particularly the military because the military leaders told me that for two months, they have not gotten salary. They could not even buy fuel into military vehicles and yet they continue to maintain restraints.
That cannot go on forever. So, I hope that the actions that we have taken over the weekend (I was there on Friday morning and I left early morning of Sunday), we might be in the process of putting that behind us.”
When correspondents asked what specific lessons are to be learnt from the Colombia experience, the former President said
“The specific thing is that they have been fighting insurgency for 50 years. They celebrated their 50 years in existence in May last year, in fact, we went there in June.
So, we want to see what has kept them going, what has kept insurgency going? What has made the government of Columbia to make three attempts to seek peace, to end the war and insurgency and they failed. What are the new efforts that they are making? How likely are those new efforts going to succeed?”
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