Kashim Shettima: Tinubu’s Political Masterstroke and Strategist par Excellence

•How he won the North for APC, ensured

NASS elects christian as senate President

By: Desert Herald 

The choice of Kashim Shettima by president Bola Ahmed Tinubu was believed to be the foxy political move that led to the hard earned victory of the Tinubu/Shettima ticket in the last presidential election in Nigeria.

From the onset, political bookmakers have posited that Senator Kashim Shettima’s choice as the running mate to Tinubu, was an intricate political maneuver beyond the primordial consideration of religious identity as many political neophytes erroneously believed.

In the run up to the presidential primary in the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju who was confronted with the daunting task of walking his ambition alone on account of the lethargic disposition of president Muhammadu Buhari towards it, coupled with the incursion of the former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo into the contest understands that for his ambition to materialize, he has to pick a sturdy running mate with capacity to enliven their electoral fortunes.

An added challenge was brought to the mix when some northern political oligarchs who selfishly tried to truncate the gentleman agreement between the north and south for power rotation insisted that the party must field a northerner as its standard bearer.

But despite these obstacles and political shenanigans, Shettima who was the head of Tinubu’s campaign team delivered the APC presidential ticket to Tinubu resoundingly in a show of meticulous and unprecedented political aplomb and dexterity which became a reference point in Nigeria’s contemporary political annals.

After the primary election, the choice of the running mate to Tinubu became another banana peel for the party as many stalwarts particularly christians insisted on the choice of a Christian as Tinubu’s running mate.

While, the APC governors wanted Tinubu to pick his running mate from their midst, most party loyalists wanted Tinubu to pick a Christian from the North.

The issue of a Christian running mate from the North was so exacting and troubling that a number of naysayers believed that APC would implode if the Jagaban as Tinubu is popularly called failed to tow their line of thinking.

In the ensuing bedlam and wily political permutations, top party men like Nasir El Rufai and Mutawalle Muhammad Bello the governors of Kaduna and Zamfara states respectively urged Tinubu to pick a Muslim running mate believing that it is the only panacea that will ensure APC’s victory at the polls.

As a political strategist of refute, Tinubu himself saw the need to adopt the Muslim/Muslim ticket despite the outcry that it will elicit especially going by the tendency of Nigerian elites to fall back to primordial sentiments whenever their justle for power came under threat.

As expected, Tinubu, a man of courage, with an abiding penchant for excellence and track record of service settled for Shettima as his running mate against the expectation of Nigeria’s socio political establishment.

The courageous decision of Tinubu to pick Shettima as running mate was greeted with apprehension and even rebuke by a large spectrum of Nigerian christians. In its vociferous condemnation of the move, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) an umbrella body of Nigerian christians simply called the action an attempt to islamize Nigeria.

The association then took a stand to deploy the numerical strength of Nigerian Christians to vote out the Muslim/Muslim ticket which it called egregiously insensitive.

In the same manner, top APC christian apparatchiks like former Secretary to the Federal Government, Babachir Lawal and former Speaker of the House of Representatives did not mince words in condemning the action as they called it selfish, egregious and a blatant disregard for the well being of the christians.

It should however be noted that despite the early sentiments expressed by some APC stalwarts to the effect that Tinubu should settle for a Muslim as running mate, when the APC presidential candidate announced the choice of Kashim Shettima, many of them were disappointed as the choice was at variance with their whimsical interests.

As a result of Tinubu’s action, top Christian politicians in the party defected and aligned with the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party while others opted for the Labour Party.

Amidst the dicey and intricate political times, Shettima rose to the occasion by extending olive branch to the embattled groups and assured them that under Tinubu presidency, their welfare, security and other critical concerns will be effectively protected.

Shettima as the running mate to Tinubu then at any given opportunity would appeal to Christians that same faith ticket would not affect Christians negatively. According to him, his emergence as vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the February 25 presidential election, despite his religion, was an issue borne out of necessity and not an attempt to Islamise Nigeria.

He also assured Nigerians that he would not allow the tyranny of Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri to ride on the country roughshod, adding that he would ensure equal opportunities for all Nigerians.
It is was obvious that his approach and appeal have calmed frayed nerves.

During the elections proper, it became glaring that Tinubu made the right choice in nominating the former governor of Borno State as his running mate .

During the Presidential election, the APC gave the PDP a run for its money in the North East despite the fact that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the standard bearer of the PDP is from Adamawa State. It was expected that the North East, will vote massively for Atiku Abubakar who was apparently favoured by the federal government’s unpopular policies. However, Tinubu’s running mate is also from Borno in the North East.Thus the choice of Shettima completely altered the political landscape in North East.
Though the PDP won majority votes in the North East, the margin was almost inconsequential.

In one of his campaign outings, Shettima a shrewd politician and a born orator said, “I was a child of necessity. There is no Islamisation agenda. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a Muslim who is married to a Christian, not only a Christian but a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

“How can someone who has not Islamised his family, will Islamize Nigeria?,” He rhetorically asked.

Shettima as the running mate to Tinubu then at any given opportunity would appeal to Christians that same faith ticket would not affect Christians negatively.

According to him, his emergence as vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the February 25 presidential election, despite his religion, was an issue borne out of necessity and not an attempt to Islamise Nigeria.

Again, Shettimah played a strategic role before and after the election of the 10th national assembly in which the APC preferred candidates all emerged as leaders of the assembly.

As the Vice President and a Senator, he was able to mobilise members of the National Assembly to elect amongst themselves, Senator Godswill Akpabio as Senate President and Honourable Tajudeen Abbas as Speaker of the House of representatives respectively.

With the election of Akpabio, the clamour of christians for balance has been met.

With the stabilizing role he has so far played, our amiable vice president Kashim Shettima has convinced even the doubting Thomases that he is an agent of stabilization not an agent of destruction and destabilization as his move to ensure the government carried everyone along becomes very glaring.