“We have to identify our problem,” Obasanjo said, speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Rome on a European Union project against drug trafficking.
“The first thing is to identify the remote and immediate cause of that problem,” he said, adding: “I have always prescribed stick and carrot”.
Obasanjo said there was “criminality” behind the Boko Haram insurgency — particularly involvement in drug, arms and human trafficking.
But he said there were also fundamental problems with poverty and unemployment in northern Nigeria.
“This is not an issue to be solved by a stick alone… These are issues that you cannot solve overnight,” he said at a press conference.
Violence linked to Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria has led to the deaths of some 3,000 people since 2009, including killings by the security forces.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan earlier this month imposed a state of emergency in three states menaced by Boko Haram, saying the level of violence calls for “extraordinary measures”.
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