LIKE THE COCK DESTINED TO CROW: Kashim Shettima On My Mind.

LIKE THE COCK DESTINED TO CROW: Kashim Shettima On My Mind.

By: Inuwa Bwala

In a discussion amongst fellow commissioners some times in 2010, one of us said about Kashim Shettima, that, with the way he carried himself on assignments given to him, the young man could be anything in Borno and beyond.

That view was to  resonate some month later, when Shettima was named as the Governorship candidate of our party and went ahead to win the election in 2011.

Of course, not many people gave him a chance of returning for a second term, given what had became an open secret that his predecessor and mentor, did not want him to return. The moves to stall his return bid were obviously because of the enviable but  manifest traits of leadership noticed in Kashim Shettima, even as a first timer as Governor.

As an insider, I am aware of the so many booby traps, set up to undo the man, but how he scaled them and went ahead to takeover as the political godfather of Borno politics remains a mystery to me.

At the risk if sounding psychopathic, I concede to Shettima the fact that, he surpasses most of us his contemporaries, when it comes to scheming. Shettima is what one analyst called, “a shrewd contriver, a master schemer and a genius”.

His attainments as a leader of the revolutionary generation of politicians that dymistified the then political godfather, Ali Modu Sheriff, has remained one that places him higher amongst equals.

The God given vision in choosing and sticking to the candidature Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, as his successor is another attribute that makes Kashim Shettima the virtual political oracle in Borno State.

Being perhaps the youngest of the lot, Shettima defied hitherto held notions about the young, when he emerged the Chairman of the Northern Governor’s forum during his second tenure.

Also Read: Kashim Shettima: An epitomic genre from Borno

It is on record that, since he left, the forum has been in a virtual limbo and his tracks remain indelible, resulting to the clamour for him to take up higher responsibilities.

Whether it is palatable for him or not, his acts of benevolence of freeing Borno from the clutches of one man and the attendant nurturing of the current administration in Borno, viz- a- viz his recent expositions on the national scene leaves Kashim Shettima as the power behind the throne, and the people of Borno State owe him a measure of gratitude, for placing them on the national turf.

Nigeria is about to rewrite it’s history, with the 2023 elections by the corner. I believe that all those who have indicated interest and chosen or not chosen as potential President of this country, are eminently qualified. I will not therefore query their credentials.

But of all those who supported the candidates so far, I have not seen the type of fidelity to a particular cause or person, as Kashim Shettima has demonstrated towards Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,the candidate if the APC. I cannot speak about others, because I am of the APC.

If loyalty or demonstrable capabilities are  cardinal requisite of a would be partner, I feel Kashim Shettima’s past exploits places him in a very good position to be chosen by Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a running mate.

Those who talk of Muslim/ Muslim Ticket as an anathema could have their points, but politics and religion cannot mix or bring about useful combinations, that could bail the country now.

Nigeria is at a labyrinth and religious or tribal irredentist may not add any value to the quest for good leadership. There are precedents, and unless we accept that promoting sentiments above national interest could be counterproductive, the closer we may be getting to the cliff edge as a country.

Whatever may be, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s personal permutations, his best option remains a Shettima of vibrance, competence and loyalty than a a Judas clothed in ethnic or religious garb.

LIKE THE COCK DESTINED TO CROW: Kashim Shettima On My Mind.