The former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that the efforts of the African Union (AU) to ‘silence the guns’ has been singularly ineffective.

Obasanjo disclosed this while speaking as the Chairman of the second convocation ceremony of Chrisland University, Abeokuta.

According to him, the AU’s campaign in silencing the guns in African in 2020 is aimed at achieving a conflict-free Africa, prevent genocide, make peace a reality for all and rid the continent of war, violent, conflicts, human right violations but the organization has not been able to achieve this, he said.

“We must not deceive ourselves, we are not where we should be in Africa and we will never be where we should be, unless we silence the gun,” the former President said.

Speaking further, he maintained that there is no country in Africa where the gun is silenced, saying that “As long as the gun is not silenced, our development will be shortchanged.”

He however called on stakeholders and government at all levels to be more proactive as the year 2020 set aside to silent the guns in Africa failed.

Buttressing his points, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo said the poverty level in Nigeria calls for urgent attention and he also raised concern that over 14million Nigeria students are out of school.

He reiterated that 14 million children who ought to be in school being out on the streets should be a source of worry to whoever wanted the best for the country and Africa as a whole.

He said, “We have 14 million children that should be in school and are not in school that’s more than the population of many African countries.”

“If care is not taken, the data indicates we are preparing for future insurgency,” he lamented.

He then urged the graduating students to remain focused in spite of the difficulties in Nigeria, adding that, there are still opportunities out there that they could make good use of to be great in life.