Military actions alone not enough in fight against insecurity —Obasanjo

A former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that military actions alone would not effectively end insecurity.

Obasanjo made this assertion on Monday in Abuja at a retreat on inclusive security organised by the Global Peace Foundation in collaboration with Vision Africa.

He also added that government must embrace the carrot and stick approach in addressing Nigeria’s security issues.

“People talk of political will, but I talk of political action. Political will is not enough. It must be matched by political action.

“The problem of insurgency will not go away, if all we are using is the ‘stick’ (military action). We may suppress it, and keep it down a bit, but we have to use ‘carrot and stick’ together to effectively tackle the problems,” he said.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar who was also present at the event, lamented the insecurity in the country.

Read also: Obasanjo proffers solution to Nigeria’s insecurity problem

He said, “As leaders, we must always look at one thing, let us serve humanity first. So, we must stop politicising insecurity.

“It’s unfortunate that this is what we are seeing across the land. Parties are accusing one another of not doing enough to tackle insecurity. I think that is the major problem we have been facing in the country.

“I want to say there is hope in finding solutions to the numerous problems facing us, because I know all of us here believe and identify that we have problems. To know you have a problem is to have half of the solution. And the other half we are looking for, can come from this kind of gathering, if we are circumspect and talk to each other with honesty and sincerity as we discuss in efforts to bring peace and stability to our country.

“Peace is the most important aspect of our lives because without peace, you just can’t do anything. All is not well with our country, and I think this forum is very important.”

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