Kashim Shettima, Nigeria’s vice president, former two-term governor of Borno State, banker, politician, and businessman, has a story that young people can actually learn from as he clocks 60 today, Wednesday, 2 September.
Shettima is not perfect. No one is. Perfection belongs to the Almighty, our Creator. But there are real lessons to draw from how he has navigated life, built his career and risen through different stages of leadership. I will try, as much as possible, to break some of these lessons down for easy understanding and assimilation.
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First, as a young Nigerian, understand that education and skills are your first source of power. Vice President Kashim Shettima understood this and acted upon it. He studied Agricultural Economics at the University of Maiduguri, before obtaining a Master’s degree from the University of Ibadan. He subsequently built a career in the banking sector, working with institutions including Commercial Bank of Africa, African International Bank and Zenith Bank, where he eventually became the General Manager of the Maiduguri branch, at a relatively young age.
There is a lesson here for every young Nigerian: no matter where you start, invest in education and acquire useful skills. Your first job may not be your dream job. Your first salary may not be impressive. Your first opportunity may not come with the recognition you desire. But every experience can become a building block for something bigger. Shettima’s years in banking undoubtedly exposed him to financial management, corporate discipline, leadership, networking and the workings of the private sector. Those experiences later became useful assets when he moved into politics and public leadership.
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The next lesson is the importance of staying and serving your people, especially in times of crisis.
As Governor of Borno State from 2011 to 2019, Kashim Shettima led the state through one of the darkest periods in its history, as the Boko Haram insurgency reached its peak. Schools were shut down, communities were displaced and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps became a defining feature of life in the state. Rather than abandoning the people at a time when they needed leadership the most, he remained in Borno, worked to rebuild schools and consistently championed education as one of the most effective tools for countering extremism.
For me, the lesson is simple: leadership shows up when things get difficult.
Furthermore, as young Nigerian, the need to reinvent oneself and be adaptable is key. Look at Shettima’s journey: from banker to governor, from governor to senator and now Vice President. That is a remarkable transition across different fields of public and professional life. At every stage, he had to learn new things, understand new environments and engage with different categories of people. He had to speak the language of business and finance, understand the realities of rural communities and farmers, engage with displaced persons and communities affected by conflict, and eventually operate on the national and international stage.
The lesson here is clear: do not box yourself in. Build skills that can travel with you. Develop transferable skills. Keep learning. Be willing to enter unfamiliar spaces and learn how they work.
The world is changing too rapidly for anyone to remain permanently confined to one identity, profession or area of expertise.
Also, young Nigerians must learn to speak up, even when their opinions are unpopular. Shettima is known for being outspoken, blunt and, at times, witty. As governor, he was not afraid to express strong views on the Federal Government’s approach to security and the insurgency. As Vice President, he has continued to speak publicly on issues ranging from the economy and agriculture to national development and restructuring.
There is a lesson here too: young people need to have a voice. You cannot shape decisions if you are always silent. And you cannot complain about being excluded from important spaces when you consistently refuse to speak up in the spaces available to you.
Additionally, as young Nigerians, you must deliberately build your networks across divides. Shettima’s ADC is Christian from Bauchi State. When he lost his Police Orderly in 2018, he not only picked the new one, who is today his ADC, from the same state, Bauchi, where the late one hailed from, he went for a Christian against the wish of members of his kitchen cabinet at the time. The former Orderly was a Muslim. Truth is, Nigeria will not move forward if we only stay in our tribe, religion, or class. We must learn to build bridges. That’s how you get national relevance. I recall after elections were over in 2015, and some APC members were accusing the Igbos of not contributing anything to the late Buhari’s victory, Shettima again came in defence of the Igbos, declaring that the mere fact that the PDP could not post the figures it posted in 2011, in 2015, from the South- East, was enough contribution to APC’s victory by the people of the region.
Shettima led the struggle to ensure that the ‘Quit Notice’ issued in 2017 to the Igbos residing in the North by some northern youths over secession agitation was withdrawn.
Finally, as young Nigerians, we must always remain committed to whatever principle we believe in, and be modest in whatever we do. I recall again that as governor, the rug in his office, as at the time of my last visit in April 2018, a year to his exit from office in 2019, was the same rug he inherited in 2011 from his predecessor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, with Sheriff’s name boldly inscribed on them. How many of us can do that?
Again, as governor, whenever his predecessor, Senator Sheriff, was in town, Shettima would abandon his official vehicle for him, a symbolic gesture of respect. When they were in a room, even before the eyes of everyone, Shettima would sit on the floor while his former boss sat on a chair. His aides were usually enraged by this profound display of humility and loyalty to his former boss. When the boss eventually came for his head, deploying every available tool to fight him and undermine his authority, some of Shettima’s aides urged him to retaliate. They even offered to release damning documents that could have silenced Sheriff permanently. But Shettima refused. He would not toe that line, choosing instead to uphold his principles and loyalty, even in the face of betrayal.
Realising they were unable to convince Shettima, I was contacted to get him to see reason to do as requested. He was in Kaduna that weekend, I travelled down to meet him. I engaged him for about an hour. In the end, he simply said “Mallam Samaila, Ali Sheriff made me governor. For that singular reason, I will remain eternally grateful to him. I will, therefore, not be party to anything that will send him to prison with regards to how he ran Borno. Don Allah, mu ci gaba da aiki mu. Allah zai kare mu ( let’s continue with our work, God will see us through).”
I am aware that during those travails, some of the top politicians in the state, chose to stand on the path of truth and justice. I can say with all sense of modesty that Shettima never fought Sheriff. It was Sheriff who waged war against Shettima. He made himself a tin god, but in the end God demystified him by putting him where he rightly belongs.
Also, in the election of the president of the senate in 2023, a contest between the now incumbent Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Abdulaziz Yari, a long time friend and political associate of Shettima. For those familiar with Nigeria’s political history, they would know that the rift between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, actually began with the election of the senate president in 1999. While Obasanjo settled for the late Evans Enwerem, his deputy canvassed and mobilised for the late Chuba Okadigbo.
But in Shettima’s case, despite his personal relationship with Yari, he stood firmly with his principal’s choice. He deployed his political brinkmanship to ensure the emergence of Akpabio, President Tinubu’s preferred candidate. I say this without sounding immodest: had Shettima chosen to go the way of Atiku, Akpabio would have lost that election scandalously. What more could you ask of Shettima? How else does one define loyalty?
Therefore, for a young person in Lagos, Osun, Kano, Benue, Kaduna, Borno, Abuja or anywhere, get skilled, serve somewhere hard, and learn to talk to people different from you.
To His Excellency, Vice President Kashim Shettima, my dear friend and brother, as you celebrate your 60th birthday anniversary, I ask Allah, who is The First and The Last, The Beginning and The End, The Most Powerful and Most Merciful, to bless you in all that you do, protect you wherever you go, and illuminate every path you take with His Mercy, Guidance, and Divine Favour.
May Allah grant you success in this world and the Hereafter, forgive your shortcomings, and keep you steadfast upon the straight path.
Bi Rahmatika Yaa Arhamar-Rahimeen.
Aamiin, Yaa Rabbal ‘Alameen.
Happy birthday your Excellency, sir!
Ismail Omipidan, a journalist and an author, writes from Abuja and can be reached @OmipidanIsmail
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