The former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has on Sunday landed in Somaliland in a surprise visit to the world community.

Obasanjo, along with a delegation from Johannesburg-based think-tank Brenthurst Foundation arrived Hargeisa city at the invitation of the country’s president, Muse Bihi Abdi, according to the presidency. The visiting former West Africa country president held a meeting with Somaliland’s top leaders, including Vice president and ministers at the state presidential palace and discussed a number of key issues.

At first, President Abdi has thanked former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and the delegations from Brenthurst foundation for the visit to the republic of Somaliland. Obasanjo served as Nigerian president between 1999-2007.

In his remarks, Obasanjo has promised to lobby for Somaliland in getting a recognization from the African Union [AU] as an independent country.

Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia on May 18, 1991. Twenty-eight years on, it still has not received legal recognition from the international community although the country has ticked all the boxes of statehood.