Shettima’s Statement And Atiku’s Reaction

Shettima’s Statement And Atiku’s Reaction

By Ahmad Sajoh

I read a reaction to the historical joke cracked by His Excellency Vice President Kashim Shetima by one Phrank Shaibu who claims to be Special Assistant to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

My first reaction is to pity the former Vice President who keep spokespersons who help in creating a gap between him and his roots.

A full blooded Fulani aristocrat will never question or even get angered by a remark from a Kanuri person no matter how painful it sounds to non Fuani.

When spokespersons who fail to understand the socio-cultural connection between the two groups speak, they tend to relate the statement outside the context of the maker of the statement.

Vice President Kashim Shetima was clear that the statement was within the acceptable norms of banters between the Kanuri and Fulani. But he was also clear on his respects for the former Vice President as an elder and a statesman.

Incidentally, I saw the statement after listening to an audio programme on Radio in my home state of Adamawa where the speaker was saying one of the problems Atiku Abubakar has is that he is cocooned by persons who stand to benefit a lot from goading him into fights with different persons.

The speaker said the Waziri Adamawa likes to soround himself with people who create wedges between him and many people big or small. I immediately contextualized the response within that realm.

I am sure his spokespersons are in the forefront of such confrontational actions. And because they feed by creating enemies for the Waziri, they do not even require depth in their narratives. They lack both knowledge and courage to dig deep and present truths.

All they do is scratch the surface and banter the kind of lies that make their cocooned principal happy.

To say that Borno was badly governed by Kashim Shetima as governor is to simply deliver the worst lie from the pit of hell.

To attribute the commencement of Boko Haram insurgency to Senator Kashim Shetima is actually to make falsehood a creed.

First, it is worth noting that the legacy of Boko Haram Insurgency predates the period of Kashim Shetima as governor.

In fact, it was his courage in the face of danger occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram that made him governor.

It should be recalled that when the then gubernatorial candidate of APP was killed by Boko Haram insurgents during the heat of the campaigns and a promise was made by the Insurgents that whoever steps in will equally be killed, it required a very courageous, then Commissioner Kashim Shetima to accept the challenge and contest the governorship.

So, rather than lie about his connection with Boko Haram, the truth is that Senator Kashim Shetima should be credited with being the very first high level defiance and resistance to the group’s satanic plots. Thus, he became Governor without displaying questionable wealth or paid propaganda writers.

Rather he became Governor by displaying uncommon courage and conviction. And his governance period in Borno was marked by such courage throughout the eight years he served as Governor.

After his tenure, he made sure he enthroned another forward-looking, dynamic and courageous government in Borno state under Professor Babagana Zulum.

In view of the fact that Boko Haram fought against western education, then Governor Kashim Shetima made education his priority by building mega-schools that can only be found in Borno state in Nigeria. It is instructive to note that he built these schools for the ordinary people, the weak, the vulnerable, the orphaned children of victims of Insurgency and the dispossessed. He never built one for himself.

Phrank Shaibu claims that VP Shetima suffers speech deficiency. Nothing could be further from the truth. On the scale of clarity of speech and thought processes, Senator Kashim Shetima stands head and shoulders high above most intellectually deficient leaders.

Not only does he speak clearly but he speaks intellectually. He is one of very few Nigerian leaders who laces their speeches with quotations from established writers and intellectuals. And he speaks the truth forcefully such that spokespersons of a man who values lies often perceive his statements as poison. Hence their toxic responses.

Perhaps what VP Shetima suffers from is his refusal to gather a coterie of paid jobbers who spew false propaganda narratives giving him credits for what he did and did not do. But that is in keeping with his deeply aristocratic background as a royal, his intellectual composer and his heritage as a Muslim. These three qualities demand humility and collective attribution of successes. The self is often deemphasized for the collective.

That also explains why he builds no personal empire. He is a servant of the people. He understands the essence of public service as the enablement of others to succeed in all fields including businesses rather than to personally succeed for self and family.

Therefore, he makes no pretence about being a businessman. Rather, he prides himself as a purveyor of the impetus for businessmen to succeed.

And because he relies on knowledge and capacity, he shines like the full moon on a dark night. Leadership for him demands absolute service to the led. He has never beclouded his judgement by the conflict of interest associated with running businesses while serving the people.

To say Kashim Shetima has nothing to say about himself or his Principal, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is to stretch falsehood to the end of the line.

Both VP Shetima and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have a lot to say about themselves as gallant fighters for democracy and impunity as well as harbingers of progress and development. And they never did it for selves so you will never hear them speak for themselves or pay jobbers to do so.

Their public records are open books. Kashim Shetima for example was a Commissioner, he was a governor and he was also a Senator of the Federal Republic. Being the Vice President is simply a continuation of public service not a starting point.

Perhaps those who started their public service from such a high pedestal may not appreciate what it takes to connect with people at the grassroots when you begin from humble levels.

The lies about the unfortunate incident involving the abduction of Chibok girls pales to insignificance when placed side by side with the role of the PDP Federal government of that time that chose to sing and dance even when the girls were being taken away.

Kashim Shetima was never the Commander in Chief, soldiers under the direct command of the PDP overlords in Abuja were the real ones that failed to secure the Chibok girls.

As a matter of fact, at the time of the abduction debacle, Borno, Adamawa and Yobe known by the acronym BAY states were under a State of Emergency when Governors were stripped of control of security. Brigade Commanders were at that time “Officers Commanding” the security forces in the three states.

The fact that some of these realities were little known to people outside the three states does not mean that the Institutional memories of the situation were wiped clean from our collective psyche’s.

So with all the lies about the events leading to that unfortunate incident, what is clear is that the responsibility for the failures of that day lies squarely as the albatross on the neck of the PDP whose flag Atiku Abubakar flew in the last election.

Spokespersons should not hope to rewrite history by putting blame where blame does not reside.

As for the Fombina Kingdom, nothing in VP Kashim Shetima’s statement represents a derogation of the kingdom except to the uninitiated.

A Kanuri man making a statement on the Fombina Kingdom is excused on the strength of our historical linkages.

Those who do not know about this should keep off. If a Fulani man addresses a message to the Borno kingdom, every bonafide Kanuri man or woman understands the context. It is historical. It is socio-cultural.

As a matter of fact, we value it because even during hostilities, it eases the tension and ends whatever adversarial arguments in contention exist.

Incidentally, the fact that His Excellency Atiku Abubakar is the Waziri or Traditional Prime Minister of Fombina Kingdom means that when socio-cultural jokes by the Kanuri are aimed at him as a Fulaniman, the Fombina Kingdom may not be spared.

For record purposes, such jokes exist between Fulani and Tiv, Nupe and Katsinawa, Kano people and Zazzagawa etc. No one takes offence except the arrogant and ignorant.

On the day of the PEPT judgement, one thing was clear. While both Atiku Abubakar and his running mate were absent at the Tribunal, VP Kashim Shetima had the patience, resilience and humility to remain there for the over 12 hour period.

In all of it, he was alert and cheerful even when Atiku Abubakar’s lawyers were sometimes dozing off.

That alone speaks volumes about his personality and candor. He showed that both himself and his Principal Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu are not the type that send people to fight their battles for them without their active participation. It displayed servant leadership.

He was overtly cheerful, sharing banters with everyone present including the opposition legal teams. Such a level of humility and high level of performance are what will bring prestige to the office of Vice President, not worthless propaganda by paid jobbers.

Ahmad Sajoh writes from 35 Oran Street off Olusegun Obasanjo Way, Wuse Zone 1 Abuja