Source:ghanaweb
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday commended President Muhammadu Buhari on his efforts to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.
Obasanjo lauded Buahri’s efforts during a visit to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State at Government House, Maiduguri. “I know that he (Buhari) is very, very concerned about the insurgency. He has got it right that first of all, there must be military ascendency over the insurgents,” he said.
This came as Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, poured encomiums on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, describing him as a man with rare courage committed to national unity and development, saying he was convinced that Obasanjo would have rescued the missing Chibok girls if he were the president at the time the insurgents seized the 279 girls from their hostels.
Obasanjo expressed optimism that the insurgency would be over soon, going by the successes recorded by the military in recent time.
He said: “I do travel a lot in Africa and outside Africa. Where I have gone in recent times, what the people wanted to know is how Nigeria is coping with the situation of insurgency.
I think we are not out of the woods yet, but it appears we can see the light beyond the tunnel.
“There is no doubt that with the combined efforts at the local level, at the state level and at the federal level, even at the community level, that our security forces are on the ascendency over the forces of destruction and the menace of insurgency that we have experienced for almost six years now.”
He expressed joy that socio-economic activities had begun to pick up in Maiduguri after many years of the insurgency. “My experience from the airport to Government House is that what I experienced in 2011 is different from what I experienced today.
“There is evidence that things are changing, the situation is improving. We pray that by the end of this year, no one will be in the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camp again,” Obasanjo said.
He condoled with the state government over loss of lives and property to the insurgency.
“I must commiserate with all our people in the state, and indeed the North East, who have been victims of the insurgency in the way that we have never experienced in the country before. “There is no family in this state that had not really suffered in one form or the other.
Please accept my condolences and that of my entire family. “We pray that the souls of those who have lost their lives will be with their God,” Obasanjo said. He appealed to political and opinion leaders in the country to educate Nigerians on the true situation in the North East by visiting the area frequently.
“I think the more we have men and women of goodwill within and outside Nigeria coming here to show that the situation is gradually getting to normal the better it is for all of us,” Obasanjo asserted. In his remarks, Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, poured encomiums on Obasanjo, describing him as a man with rare courage committed to national unity and development.
Shettima said he was convinced that Obasanjo would have rescued the missing Chibok girls if he were the president at the time the insurgents seized the 279 girls from their hostels.
But the governor regretted that former President Goodluck Jonathan, who was in charge when the girls were taken, only phoned him 19 days after the seizure of the innocent children.
The governor said the former President neither sympathised nor empathised with his government over the abduction of the girls.
He recalled how Obasanjo fought gallantly for peace during his tenure, vigorously interacting with stakeholders, including governors, traditional rulers and other peacemakers in troubled regions in search of peace.
The governor said: “In our own case, Your Excellency, after the Chibok abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in April, 2014, it took 19 days for me to receive a call from the Presidency.
“I brought this mainly to show the difference, because we will only appreciate scenarios when we make comparisons,’’ Shettima said.
The governor also recalled a statement credited to the current Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbe, who he said made glowing remarks about Obasanjo long after they had changed their political parties.
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