Monday, January 17, 2022 4:34 pm
Kashim Shettima, former Borno State Governor, has waved those attacking Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, an All Progressives Congress leader, off as desperate cowards. The mudslinging that has trailed him since his presidential bid took the top spot in the country is, according to Shettima, a mere acknowledgment of Tinubu’s political track record and inimitable influence on Nigeria’s political scene.
Shettima said this when he gave a keynoite address at the Support Group Conference, organised by Support Groups Management Council (SGMC), in honour of Tinubu at International Conference Centre, Abuja, on January 17, 2022.
As the former Borno Governor put it, the attempts at weaving ridiculous fiction to override the history we’ve all witnessed demonstrate the detractors’ utter desperation and cowardice. One of such, as he put it, is the mischievous fixation on his age and the wild conclusions that he is physically unsuitable for the Office of the President. This obsession, in the words of Shettima, characterizes the thinking of those who have no understanding of Asiwaju’s incredible work ethic.
Then Shettima reminded everyone about Tinubu’s sacrifices: “His propensity for sacrificing his comfort to save our democracy has been duly documented across time. When uncertainty loomed over the country during the military era, this was the man who disbursed his resources to fight for the return to this democracy. Even in exile, he provided sanctuaries for fleeing patriots who are still around to testify to his large heart. Our younger compatriots must be in the know of Tinubu’s memories from two decades past—when he was a backbone of the opposition and fiercely antagonized and politically ostracised by the then ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party. He even built the economic foundations of the modern Lagos State at the time the State was isolated by a vindictive federal government.
“While Tinubu’s political contemporaries were trading their principles for a place at the table in Abuja during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s era, and throwing their political allies under the bus, he took the risk to build a political alternative to the ruling party and his choices of candidates underlined his political credentials. He became, and has remained, a dependable sanctuary of victims of political witch-hunts. In 2007, he offered his political structure to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to run for President under the Action Congress (AC) banner.
Four years later, he made this structure available for Malam Nuhu Ribadu, and this foresight of the Jagaban Borgu would also set the tone of the 2015 general elections. His place as a fulcrum of the All Progressives Congress re-asserted his essence, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude and deserved loyalty for prioritizing principles over personal gains.”
Below is the full speech by Shettima:
The Time Has Come to Choose Wisely
By Senator Kashim Shettima
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