The rising death toll of innocent Somali citizens could have long been nipped, but for a deliberate turning away by the international community, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said in Nairobi. 
“We have collectively failed the Somali child, the Somali woman and the Somali people,” Obasanjo said in a keynote address, which he delivered at  a meeting on “Somalia’s Finance and Economic Issues,” on Friday. 
“We have failed ourselves,” he said in the address entitled: “The Advancement of Peace in Somalia,” which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. ”We cannot continue and we should stop the implicit and latent ranking of conflicts which had relegated the Somalia issue to the background,” Obasanjo said, adding that the international community continued to show preference for some countries by ranking conflicts across the globe, while forgetting the common humanity that  bound all.  Obasanjo said  the downturn in the economy of Somalia and the sufferings of many, were indications of international neglect, rather than symptoms of a “failed state.” He expressed regret that the international community continued to pay lip service to the conflict in Somalia, while focusing on other conflicts with higher economic benefits”
“Was Somalia  given the same attention and resources as Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo by the international community?  Could it be that we have concluded that Somalia is not of any strategic relevance to the international community and Africa?  Could it be that lack of  “strategic” mineral resources within the borders of Somalia has made its case somewhat unimportant and irrelevant? Or Could it be  that lack of a demonstrable high nuisance value is the Achilles heel of  Somalia?”  Obasanjo asked. 
He said, “how else can we explain that a world that could afford to expend well over five billion dollars in 78 days in Kosovo, and an additional 55 billion dollars in reconstruction costs could not afford to find the required resources for peace in Somalia?” How can we explain that a world that could spend 500 billion dollars, deploy 168,000 American troops, recording the death of almost 4,000 of them in thequest for ‘peace’ in Iraq, could not afford the resources for peace in Somalia?” Obasanjo queried .
According to Obasanjo, the Somalia tragedy will continue to be a scar on the conscience of the world, and it will ridicule the entire effort at building global community, until it is resolved.  “It is this lack of demonstration of the principle of solidarity and collaborative effort that has failed in the Somalia case,” he said.