In an interview with Newsweek Magazine, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to dialogue with the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to deal with the secessionist agitations instead of the deployment of soldiers to the South-East.

The former President said that he did not see anything wrong with Buhari meeting with Kanu. He said that he would want to meet with Kanu himself and talk to him and other people his age, to know their worries.

Obasanjo, who led the final offensive that led to the end of the Civil War in 1970, said that he had seen too many wars and it was time for Nigeria to move on. However, he said that secession was not the answer.

“Those who fought in the war in Biafra will not want to fight any other war. I fought in that war and it was an unfortunate war, and I said I have fought one war too many in Nigeria; I don’t want to see another.

The heavy boot is not the solution. Whatever may be the frustration of any youth in any part of Nigeria; I believe secession is not the solution,” the former President said.

He also said that the only way to solve the various agitations across the country was economic development. “We need to satisfy the youth in job creation, in wealth creation, in giving them a better, fulfilled life, in giving them hope for the future. There’s no easy way out.”