The United States government has said that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari can bring peace to Nigeria only if it embraces painstaking dialogue instead of the military actions being currently employed.

The Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operation in the US Department of State, Thomas Hushek stated this on Thursday while addressing a cross section of Nigerian officials, diplomats and representatives of the US government at a cionference convened by the US Institute of Peace (USIP) held in Washington DC..

“Apart from the 15-year Boko Haram issue in the Northeast, Nigeria’s military is grappling with widespread conflicts with the country’s borders, the most current being the second phase of its “Operation Python Dance” in the southeast that has put soldiers in direct confrontation with the self – determinist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

“Military authorities have also proscribed IPOB and declared imminent operations in South – West and South – South regions– a decision that has drawn the ire of civil society groups and human rights activists.

“2019 elections will be critical to Nigeria’s continued prosperity and stability. Achieving stability or building political peace is a political endeavour,” Hushek said at the conference which had the theme ‘Peace in Nigeria’.

He suggested that dialogue and being responsive to the needs of a majority of Nigerians would build trust and encourage durable peace in the country.