African Network for Peace, Prog­ress and Develop­ment (ANPPD), a non-governmental orga­nization, has commended former Governor of Abia state, Dr. Orji Kalu for offering to negotiate with Boko Haram sect if given the opportunity.
The continent Coordina­tor-General of the group, Prince Elias Odoemena, while briefing journalists at the end of its bi-annual general meeting held last week in Accra, Ghana, said: “While some wars are not won on the battle field, others are settled through negotiation, that is why government must dialogue with the Boko Haram sect in order to surmount the security challenge facing Nigeria.
“Nigerians must be mindful of their speeches, any bad word or abuses against either the govern­ment or Boko Haram will not solve the problem but will ignite the battle. It is better for us to say what will accelerate the develop­ment of Africa and not what will retard the develop­ment. “ANPPD is a group that will continue to preach peace, progress, and devel­opment in Africa. We chal­lenge our scholars, leaders of thoughts, traditional and spiritual leaders among others to proffer pragmatic solutions to insurgency. We must, irrespective of po­litical, tribal and religious divides, complement the efforts of President Good­luck Jonathan in curbing terrorism in Nigeria. Let us stop blaming the President as Boko Haram remains a collective challenge for us all to tackle”.
The group used the op­portunity to commend the present administration for accommodating construc­tive criticisms and not fighting political oppo­nents with anti-corruption agencies such as EFCC and ICPC. Elias said:
“As we are all aware, people like Kalu lost huge investments including Slok Airline, Hallmark Bank and oil blocks for fight­ing against the third term agenda of the then Presi­dent Olusegun Obasanjo’s government. We applaud Kalu for his steadfastness and relentless efforts at creating employment for Nigerians through his busi­ness initiatives especially Slok Group”.