Obasanjo opposes secession, ransom payment

**Says agitators insensitive to plight of minority groups, giving cash to kidnappers is foolishness

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday described calls for the disintegration of Nigeria as insensitive to the plight of the minority groups in the country.

Receiving the Tiv Professional Group (TPG) from Benue State, who paid him a courtesy visit in Abeokuta, he recalled a discussion between him and “a military friend” who,, according to him, described major tribes in the country as selfish and not sufficiently caring for the minority groups.

Obasanjo, who aligned with his friend’s opinion, expressed worry about what would become of the minority groups if the major tribes decided to secede and begin to operate as separate countries.

“If the Yoruba can stand as a country, if the Igbo and the Hausa/Fulani can stand as separate countries, where do we want the minority groups to be?

“Now, by virtue of the present situation, they are a little bit protected, but if Nigeria breaks up, they will be oppressed and exterminated,” he said.

He recalled the meetings he had with a number of socio-cultural organisations in September 2020 and noted that nobody at such meeting talked about disintegration or breakup, saying that “all they clamoured for was a change for good.”

The elder statesman stressed the need for Nigerian leaders to be mindful of the ethnic diversity of the country which, he noted, would not make any meaningful progress without such consideration.

Obasanjo, who expressed hope that the rough times that Nigeria was going through would not last forever, urged its citizenss to be patient while the country gathered her goodwill and moved in the right direction.

The leader of the group, Prof. Zacharys Gundv, in a paper he presented to Obasanjo, highlighted the challenges of the country, including insecurity, poverty religious intolerance, kidnappings and banditry, among others.

He explained that the Tiv were worried about the skewed narrative of insecurity in Nigeria
Proffering solution to Nigeria’s challenges, Gundv called on well-meaning citizens to be united in serving the country.

He called for intensified advocacy against nomadic pastoralism and an “All Nationalities Summit” to discuss and proffer solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.

Obasanjo also cautioned against payment of ransom to kidnappers.

He submitted that the government must develop means to deal with kidnappers and bandits heavily in place of ransom payment.

He noted that the governments of both Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari paid ransom to kidnappers but they denied it.

Obasanjo said payment of ransom encourages criminals indulging in the act.

The former president berated governments that pay ransom, describing them as foolish.

Obasanjo insisted that it requires a “carrot and stick” approach to fight security challenges to a standstill.

He said: “Some people are still reaching out, and hoping that lives can still be saved. But a situation whereby anybody thinks paying ransom is the way out, that person is folly. He is a folly. This is because when you pay ransom, you encourage.

But if you are not going to pay ransom, you must have the means to deal heavily with it. You must have the stick to deal with it.

“Government has always paid ransom. Not only this government, even during Jonathan (administration). They paid ransom, but they denied it.”