Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday led a team of Colombian security experts to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to share their professional experience in combating terror.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents after the closed door meeting with the president, Obasanjo said that Nigeria needed to learn how Colombia survived insurgency for more than 50 years.
“I brought a delegation of those of us who visited Colombia last year under the auspices of a foundation which I’m the chairman.
“We went to Colombia to see how the Colombian 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.
“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 Colombia,’’ he said.
The former President said he also briefed President Buhari on his assignment as special envoy to 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 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” he said.
On the possibility of the Nigerian Armed Forces meeting the three months deadline to defeat the Boko Haram sect, Obasanjo said that the deadline was not cast on stones but merely to encourage them to crush the sect.
“The president must give a target. When you give somebody a target, you give him something to aspire to, giving him an objective. Target is not cast in stone.
“I believe that if you are talking of getting the upper hand, gradually, we are getting the upper hand.
“We are not there yet but we are getting close. And once we are getting the upper hand, we move on and do other things,’’ he said. (NAN)
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