Buhari’ ll soon end insurgency, says Obasanjo

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has said President Muhammadu Buhari has got it right with the military approach to counter Boko Haram’s insurgency in the northeast, and that very soon the terrorists will be wiped out.

“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, ” Obasanjo said in Maiduguri Monday when he visited Gov. Kashim Shettima.

According to him, the international community is concerned about the progress of Buhari’s counterinsurgency, and there’s no doubting the fact that the president is sincere and committed to the effort.

Assessing the level of peace in Borno, Obasanjo added he was impressed with the level of change he saw in Borno, compared to what he saw in 2011.

“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,” he said.

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He encouraged politicians and opinion leaders to come physically to the state for proper assessment of the situation.

“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 said.

His host, Shettima, was full of praise. He described Obasanjo as a courageous leader who could have rescued the missing Chibok girls if he were the president at the time the insurgents abducted the 279 girls from their hostels.

Shettima said Obasanjo was committed to peace and unity when he was president, unlike former President Goodluck Jonathan who, he said, was unconcerned.

According to the governor, it took Jonathan 19 days after the Chbok girls abduction to send his sympathies.

“I brought this mainly to show the difference, because we will only appreciate scenarios when we make comparisons,’’ Shettima said.