TheCable

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday said President Muhammadu Buhari will succeed in the fight against insurgency because he has “listening ears”.

Addressing journalists at the presidential villa in Abuja after presenting a report of how Nigeria could win the war against Boko Haram, Obasanjo expressed optimism that the security forces could meet the target of ending insurgency by December.

“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 of,” he said.

“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 from the experience of Columbia.

“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?

“Oh yes. If we won the civil war, we can win this one. But like the Columbian said, we are not waiting until we kill off every insurgent to say we have won.

“One thing you can say about the president is that he is anxious to learn and he has listening ears. Of course, nobody knows it all. A good leader must seek every opportunity to learn and to put what he learns into practice.”