Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the use of only military
operations to tackle Boko Haram activities in Nigeria and other violent
groups across the world cannot end insurgency.
A statement on Friday by the African Export-Import Bank, indicated that
the former president said this during the bank’s 22nd Annual General
Meeting held in Lusaka, Zambia.
Obasanjo, speaking about conflicts in Africa, also said the crises were
caused by failure to address certain social problems in the society such
as educational disparity.
Afrixembank’s spokesman, Obi Emekekwue quoted Obasanjo in the
statement thus, “He proposed a carrot and stick solution to the conflicts
on the continent through an approach involving military solutions and
social development since a purely military approach would not work.
“According to Obasanjo, a situation, such as in Nigeria, where one
section had an educational attainment level of 79 per cent while another
had only 19 per cent, created room for conflict.”
The former president also called on Nigeria and other African countries
to pursue economic integration on the basis of regional economic
communities rather than doing so with the over 54 countries on the
continent.
He noted that by pursuing economic growth, each region of the continent
would serve as platforms to strengthen Africa.
In a wide-ranging discussion, the ex-president stressed the importance of
infrastructure in promoting intra-African trade and called for the
establishment of a viable well-run coastal shipping line from Dakar in
Senegal to Maputo in Mozambique to improve intra-African trade.
Obasanjo stated further that while Nigeria and other nations on the
continent should encourage the local production of goods, they should
also encourage and develop the process of moving those goods.
The statement added, “Former President Obasanjo added that Africa
should start adding value to its commodities rather than exporting raw
commodities only for those commodities to be sent back to the continent
as finished goods.”
Meanwhile, the Afreximbank on Saturday announced the appointment of
Benedict Oramah as its new boss.
Oramah’s appointment was one of the key decisions taken during the
bank’s AGM.
“Dr. Oramah takes over from Jean-Louis Ekra, who has been the bank’s
chief executive officer since 2005. Oramah, a Nigerian national, has
served as Executive Vice President in charge of Business Development
and Corporate Banking at Afreximbank since 2008. He was a pioneer
staff of the bank, which he joined in 1994 as Chief Analyst, rising to the
position of Senior Director, Planning and Business Development
Department in 2007. He previously served as Assistant Manager
(Research) at the Nigerian Export-Import Bank from 1992 to 1994,” the
statement said.
