Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has said more could be done to reach out to the militant Islamist group Boko Haram to find out what leads it to carry out acts of violence.
In an interview with CNN, Obasanjo suggested that prominent Nigerians with resources overseas were supporting Boko Haram.
Obasanjo told CNN that he had tried to reach out to Boko Haram about one- year-and- a-half ago through a lawyer who was acting as the group’s proxy, and had asked if they had external backing.
He said the lawyer told him that the group was receiving support from other Nigerians who have resources overseas or “other organizations from abroad,” worrying that, “If they had 25 per cent support a year and a half ago, today that support has doubled.”
Obasanjo said resolving the issue was central to the country’s progress.
“Boko Haram undermines security, and anything that undermines security undermines development, undermines education, undermines health, undermines agriculture and food and nutrition security,” he said.
Boko Haram members have since 2009 launched a violent campaign against the Federal Government, attacking military and police facilities, drinking joints and worship houses in the northern states and Abuja.
The international rights group, Human Rights Watch, in a report late last year had said Boko Haram members had killed more than 2,800 people.
However, despite the ongoing challenges the country faces, Obasanjo said he does not foresee Nigeria ever splitting in two, into north and south.
“We in Nigeria now know that it would cost us much more to break up than it will cost us to come together,” he said.