Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has called on the Federal Government to develop means of dealing with kidnappers and bandits heavily in place of the ransom payment.
The elder statesman stressed the need for leaders to ensure that 2023 marked the beginning of a new federation for Nigeria, warning that the country may slide into what he described as ground dissolution.
The former President made the recommendation on Wednesday while receiving members of the Tiv Professionals Group (TPC) led by Professor Zacharys Gundu, at his residence within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
“Some people are still reaching out and hoping that lives can still be saved; but a situation whereby anybody thinks paying a 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,” Obasanjo said.
He added, “Government has always paid ransom. Not only this government, even during (Goodluck) Jonathan (administration). They paid ransom, but they denied it.”
The former president, who condemned the security challenges in the country, insisted that 2023 must mark a watershed for Nigeria.
“The year 2023 should give us the beginning of the emergence of a new federation. Feeling that the rot continues, then we are going to be sliding back to a ground dissolution. God forbid,” he said.
