Goodluck Jonathan, immediate past President, wants President Muhammadu Buhari to convene a meeting of the Council of State to brainstorm on the best way to deal with the ongoing Biafran agitation in the south-east.

Jonathan made this known in a message he posted on his verified Facebook page, adding that the current tension in the country is avoidable.

“The reports I have received about recent developments in the country lead me to appeal to all men of goodwill to use whatever influence they have to push for peaceful coexistence and restraint on all sides,” he wrote.

“Perhaps it is time for the Council of State to intervene and offer its wise counsel. Irrespective of whatever provocation, Nigerians must never turn on one another.

“Even in the face of difficult circumstances, we must have faith that God in His infinite wisdom will guide us to finding a way out that is fair and just to all concerned.

“Inasmuch as there may be the need to enforce order, there is a greater need to reinforce our humanity and treat Nigerian citizens humanely whether they are from the north or south.

“Nothing justifies the desecration and destruction of religious places of worship or a police station. But even more so, nothing justifies the endangering of human life.

“Let us exchange ideas instead of exchanging insults and threats.”

The Council of State is made up of former presidents/heads of state, serving governors, the chief justice of Nigeria and a few other prominent citizens.

Earlier, Olusegun Obasanjo encouraged Buhari to personally meet with Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), saying: “I would want to meet Kanu myself and talk to people like him, people of his age, [and ask:] ‘What are your worries?’ Not only from the southeast but from all parts of Nigeria.”

“Those who fought in the war in Biafra will not want to fight any other war. I have fought one war too many in Nigeria; I don’t want to see another.”