Negotiating with gunmen’ll encourage banditry — Prof Oloyede, NSCIA secretary-general Published 21 February 2021 The Registrar/Chief Executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, is also the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. He speaks with FRIDAY OLOKOR Recently , a renowned Islamic scholar, Sheik Abubakar Gumi, advised state governors to use security votes to provide amenities for repentant bandits. Will you align with this view? I have limitations in answering this question, there is a limitation because I have never been a governor. Owing to the fact that I have never been a governor, I wouldn’t want to pretend that I know under what condition they operate. But ordinarily, I will not agree to negotiating with bandits because it would encourage such a thing. But my own opinion does not matter. Why I am saying so is that I don’t pray to ever become a governor but assuming I am a governor today, facts available to me in the office will compel me (on decision to take). So since the governors are not mad, I would want to concede to them that probably they saw what we did not see. But to me as a person who is not in that position, it does not make sense to me.