"I'm Satisfied With GEJ’s Efforts To Rescue Chibok Girls" - IBB @73 Interview

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, was 73 years-old yesterday. In this interview to mark the occasion, Babangida, fondly called IBB, speaks on some critical issues in the country,   including the continuous detention of the Chibok girls by the Islamist group, Boko Haram, the power situation in the country, the 2015 general elections, among others.
It has been over 100 days since the kidnapping of the Chibok school girls. Despite the assurances by the international community, the girls have not been found. What is the way forward? When do you think we can get these girls back home to their parents?
Perhaps the way forward is what government is doing now. I know there are complications. It is no longer an issue that you could ask the military to move into Sambisa forest and rescue the girls. I think Nigerians want the girls rescued and brought back home alive not dead; that is a very daring thing to do. From my experience as a professional soldier,  a lot of planning, a lot of cooperation,  a lot of study has to be done to achieve this objective. 217 or whatever the number is, is a lot of population to lose just like that. So I think government is trying from what we got during our last briefing; I am quite satisfied that efforts are really being made to get the girls out. You see, the objective is to get them out of that place alive, the operative word is alive, you can order a full scale military operation and you could get them all killed which would defeat the objective.
Many Nigerians have said that the past leaders have not been saying much or advising the present administration especially on the challenges confronting the country,  the impeachment processes, the Boko Haram issue and kidnapping. This is an opportunity for you to say a word and advise government. Secondly, one of the major problems confronting this nation now is poor power supply. I don’t know if you are part of the Nigerians feeling the pinch. As a former Military President, what is your suggestion to the Federal Government on how to get out of the challenges?
The first question about us the older generation, what are we doing? I can tell you we are doing a lot. If there is any set of Nigerians who understands the problems of this country, it is those of us who were opportune to be at the helm of affairs at various times in this country. We know what the problems are,   we appreciate what the president is doing, and the best we can do and we are always doing is to be of help to him in terms of advice, meetings, interactions, and so on. I think this is one of the luckiest countries that have got seven living heads of state, people who headed government and have always interacted with the president and we also appreciate the problems the president is facing because we were once there. So the best we can do is to always sit with him and give him advice; and I am glad to say we are doing just that.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN SUNDAY VANGUARD