President of the Yoruba Council of Elders and former Military Governor of the old Western State, Maj.-Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo (retd.), in this interview with TOBI AWORINDE, talks about the war against Boko Haram and other issues

You were the Aide-de-Camp to the late Governor General of Nigeria, Sir James Robertson, in 1957. As the first Nigerian to attain such a position, how could you describe the experience?

Being the ADC to Robertson was a very good experience. I consider it a great privilege because no Nigerian did it before me. It was a British officer that occupied that position before me. But when the governor general decided to have a Nigerian as ADC, I was lucky to be noticed as a senior Nigerian Army officer in Lagos then. Because of his relationship with our British leaders in the Army, he appointed me. But he didn’t just appoint me like that. We were meeting with the Army officers, British and Nigerian, every Sunday in a social gathering. That was how he got to know me. He got used to me and I got used to him. When the question of appointment came, he decided that he would like to have me. That was how I became the first Nigerian Army officer to be ADC to the British governor general of the country then. It is a good thing that a Nigerian became an aide-de-camp to a British governor general. I got used to him and vice versa. In fact, my first son, Niyi, was born then and he (Robertson) became my son’s godfather during the period.

You have a number of pioneer achievements that set you apart from your peers. How often do you get requests from the Federal Government to perform advisory roles?

Since the emergence of Boko Haram, has the Federal Government sought your help in trying to tackle insecurity?

I don’t tackle, I only advise when they ask me for advice. Also, when I see something going wrong and I feel something should happen, I get in touch with them and we discuss at length regularly about the present and the future. And the Boko Haram you are talking about now was one of the areas in which I advised the officers, whether the commander-in-chief or military officers, because of my experience and seniority within the Armed Forces. We discuss regularly about the work we were doing back then, how we used to deal with such issues when we were there and what I think they should do in the future. Even now, we are still discussing.

How do you rate the performance of the security chiefs?

They are doing their best. They are doing well and they take advice.

You were the governor of the Western State during the civil war. Was there any point in time when you thought Biafra would win the war?

No, because first of all, as Governor of the Western Region then, (late) Chukwuemeka Ojukwu was very close to me. I encouraged him to come to the Army. He was Assistant District Officer in Umuahia, Abia when I was ADC to the governor general. He liked the Army and I encouraged him to join. He was very close to me and everything was going on well.

What were some of the traits you saw in him that made you want him to join the Army?

I wanted as many Nigerians as possible to join the Army. Luckily for me, I was the ADC to the governor general and my boss went on a visit to Umuahia in the East then, where he (Ojukwu) was ADO and we had the privilege of discussing together. That was how he became very close to me. Therefore, I encouraged him to join the Army and he did. And you would agree with me that he did extremely well.

What would you do differently to resolve Nigeria’s insurgency problem?

The Boko Haram thing is a problem that is affecting everybody, especially those of us (military officers) at the top. And when we were able to discuss it among ourselves, they took our advice, we dealt with it mutually and together we witnessed the results.

Do you think the Federal Government should grant amnesty to Boko Haram?

I think the government should first put its best into taking a decision on what to do. Whether there is amnesty or they go straight to fight and defeat them, the President has to take a decision on that.

What are some of the factors that will inform that decision?

It will be based on the decision of those at the top, the government and the people. They should get the leaders of the two groups – our leaders and their leaders.

Are you saying there should be open communication channels through negotiation?

There should be; there could be. And if it is not working, we should fight it out.