Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, turned 74 yesterday. He fielded questions from journalists at his Hill Top residence along David Mark Road, Minna, Niger State, on the renewed fight against the dreaded Boko-Haram sect, economic situation, defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) efforts to recover stolen monies, role of the media in the just concluded elections, among others. Excerpts below;
Is it true that you are not a Northerner that you are from Ogbomosho in Oyo State? People tend to say your name Badamasi is coined from Gbadamasi, a Yoruba name.
I have answered this question when some of you were not born then. In November 1962, I was asked this question you raised, because of my name or the name. I was before the interview; a minister and some very prominent people during my last year in secondary, also asked me that question. First of all, I corrected the name as it was spelt. It is not new unless people didn’t get to understand it as at that time; it is Badamasi. It is not new, I did understand it, I was with my father then in secondary school when I had to answer the question but, it is now 53 years ago and, I am glad to answer the same question.
The truth is that, I hail from here, Niger State. My parents were all between Wushishi and Minna. My grandparent travelled to settle down in Wushsihi. So, I think that says it all.
But, there is nothing wrong being from any part of this country. The truth is that, I hail from Niger State, my parents and my great-grandparents moved from somewhere to settle down here in Niger State.
There are some who still call us settlers in Niger State. We are not indigenes of the state because our grandparents came from somewhere, but having lived all my 54 years in Niger State, I think I am more than qualified to be called an indigene of Niger State.
A United States official recently stated what Nigeria military needs to fight Boko- Haram is not weapon, but training. As a military officer, do you subscribe to this assertion?
I think I must admit that a lot of us were trained in America, so, it is not anything new to talk about because, they know they have trained quite a number of officers. I was trained in America, I was in a place called Baltimore in Kentucky, where I did senior officers’ course. I was in a Naval postgraduate school in United States where I did senior officers management course. I was a Brigadier at that time so, a lot of us were trained in America.
They are right but, there is an old saying that no matter the sophisticated weapon you have, we always say in the Army that it is not the weapon, but the man behind the weapon. In other words, I do appreciate what they are trying to do for us. They have acquired a lot of experience since the Second World War; they have been involved with stability operations and other operations in support of either United Nations or in support of countries in which they went into. So I expect that they should talk about that.
Are you satisfied with the renewed fight against insurgency by the Federal Government?
Yes, they have to be boxed. I think the renewed efforts and the fight of the Federal Government to stop Boko-Haram is very commendable.
In the last days of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Boko- Haram was almost being extinguished, but now, we have seen a resurgence of the sect’s activities. What is President Muhammadu Buhari not doing which has led to an upsurge in the activities of the group?
I think there is a general misunderstanding on the whole concept of insurgency, you can call it anything, but one thing you have to realise is that we are not fighting a regular army, where you can confront yourselves by shear use of force and weapons to overwhelm the enemy. No, you have got a small trained army, the tactics of which must include ‘maximum casualty’ on the so called enemy, inflict casualty on him where he lands when he least expects it.
We are not fighting a conventional war that makes it exceptionally difficult. They will blow up bridges; they will blow up barracks and so on and so forth. This is an unconventional war, it is in order, the soldiers are trained for it and they know the sort of things they do. The public should be educated about this unconventional war.
If Colonel Gideon Orkar had had his way, you would have been dead by now. Today you are celebrating 74th birthday, how do you feel that God has spared your life to see this day?
I continue to remain grateful to God and it strengthens my belief that no matter what happens, if God does not will it, nothing shall happen to you or for something to happen to you. So, it is a matter of belief that whatever happens to you takes the approval of Allah, and I remain grateful to Him for sparing my life and up till this time, despite what we went through.
Those of us who participated in combat, we say thank God. During the war in 1969 and even in1990, some 21 years after, God kept me going. So, I am very grateful, and grateful to all of you for your support.
With most states and the Federal Government now grounded, don’t you think we need a forum of elders in the country to meet and fashion out the way forward for this country?
I think one of the most unique things in our setting now, I think, this is one country in Africa that is specially blessed, there are about seven or eight of us alive today, and every one of us had his experiences one way or the other. But, the other good thing is that, there is a forum where we all meet the current leadership to talk about the situation in the country, discuss and offer solutions to any problem. Those of us who were there are always free, very accessible to government, so we can either put across either in writing or talking.
These sorts of things are there, I think, there are challenges every government will face, but the people must come together to support the government to come out with solutions to the problems.
In your opinion, what are the key areas the present government should focus, so that the country will move on?
I must commend the present leadership for identifying even before and after the election some of the problems facing this country. Number one has to do with security and the President talked about it extensively. The security of lives and property, the security of the state the security of this environment called Nigeria has been identified.
And the second one, of course, has to do with the way we live. The way we walk and the way we behave. Corruption, I think, has to do with the economic development of the country. They were all identified; we should support him towards achieving these objectives.
The President and stakeholders have launched strategies to recover stolen monies. What is your take on this move?
When you say strategy, when my boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo had a similar strategy, to be fair to him and his government, he made a lot of recoveries. So, we should support this present Federal Government in trying to do the same to achieve the same objective.
Do you think the strategy being adopted will yield positive results?
Resolutely. I believe it will be achieve someday. The government, I believe, will try to be resolute in trying to stamp out this mess you talk about. Oil theft for example; the government, I am sure will be resolute in trying to stamp them out and be ready to bring to book those stealing our oil.
As a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which is now in the opposition, how do you feel when your party lost control of government? Do you think PDP can come out of the waters in 2019?
Well, for 16 years, there has been democracy, democratic practices in the country. A lot of things must have gone wrong somewhere and the right judges are the people and the people have spoken. I think, it is natural they needed a change after 16 years and they did what is right, they did not go wild, they did not fight anybody, they used their ballot papers to change the government.
I think this is the beauty of what happened, I look forward to such practices in the next 50 years of democratic practice in this country. Don’t forget, politics is what is happening now and the PDP will try. But, I hope it learns from the mistakes of what it did wrong and what it did right and what it can do now to relaunch itself.
One of the major challenges your administration faced was the Gideon Okar coup d’état. When you reflect on this, how do you feel?
I can remember very well I had some loyal officers who were supposed to be my protector and my body guard. Initially, they told me to leave and I told them, ‘No, I am not moving an inch,’ but, they remained stubborn and later, I took my family outside Dodan Barracks and joined my guards.
So, we went out of Dodan Barracks and we went to a safe house where we got in contact with loyal troops. May God bless General Sani Abacha. Abacha was the Chief of Army Staff, he got in touch with me, I got in touch with him and we sat down and talk on what we are used to doing or what we are going to do. I and Abacha rallied round the loyal troops and then I left State House and joined Abacha in his house, that was what happened.
How will you rate the role of the media in the just concluded general elections?
I think the media has been fair, that is my rating. Very unusual, but the media didn’t show partisanship. You saw it the way it is, I have seen the media during a lot of other elections but, this particular one, you were very, very fair. And I hope that will be the trend.
What is your assessment of the present administration so far?
That will not be fair. However, so far, I have confidence that it is doing well, it has identified the problems and it looks resolute in confronting the problems head-on and a lot of people in the society are offering lot of sound advice on what to do. It will succeed.
Your political godson, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, is being dragged into FIFA presidency race. What is your view?
I will vote for him, I don’t think it is a bad outing; talking about his interest in sports, especially in football. Enyimba Football Club, you can still recall that he actually brought them to the limelight because of his interest in soccer. And if it is recognised outside this country, there is nothing wrong in saying that he will be recognised in the world. That is why I say that if I have a vote, I will cast my vote for him.