OF DATTI BABA AHMED, COMPETENCE AND SHETTIMA’S CAP

OF DATTI BABA AHMED, COMPETENCE AND SHETTIMA’S CAP

By: Inuwa Bwala

I think Nigeria is tending towards a dangerous trend by making leaders become demigods, that should be hero worshipped.
How orherwise can one describe Datti Baba-Ahmed’s interview clip, about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Aso-ebi signature “cap”, and the need for his Vice, Kashim Shettima, and indeed everybody in APC to wear it.

I used to count Dr. Datti, the 2023 Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, as one of Nigeria’s finest intellectuals in politics, who should differ from others, but
Seeing trying to mock the VP, and talk about caps as a symbol of unity or lack of it, makes his credentials before me fall flat.

I expected him to speak on Kashim Shettima’s capacity, competence and suitability or lack of them.
Failing to do so, has however forced me: like many others to think otherwise of him.
As Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima is the virtual face of the administration, who stands in for his principal effectively at national and international meets.

He chairs the National Economic Council and stirs governance on food security, MSMEs and getting Nigerians out of poverty.

If leadership is about caps, perhaps Tinubu would have gone for a tailor, but it is beyond such myopic assertions

The cap the VP wears is the Nigerian flag. The cap he bears is the responsibility of over 200 million Nigerians. That is heavier than any signature cap.

I think we should judge leaders by results on security, economy, and not dresscode.
Perhaps, Dr. Datti need to know that, , Vice President Kashim Shettima doesn’t wear a signature cap, because he wears that of a country, its burdens of insurgency and reconstruction on his head every day.
Like I said earlier, if the job was about matching caps, Nigeria would have hired a tailor, but the job is about matching competence with crisis. And in that, Nigerians will be the better judges.

Leadership is not fashion. While others are checking caps, VP Shettima is checking food prices, security briefings, and NEC decisions. Nigeria needs problem solvers, not fashion displays.

OF DATTI BABA AHMED, COMPETENCE AND SHETTIMA’S CAP