AFTER weeks of speculations and uncertainties over the choice of the Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections, the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has picked Kashim Shettima as his running mate.
Who is Shettima?
Shettima was born on September 2, 1966. From serving as Commissioner in five different ministries in Borno State, Kashim Shettima won the February 2011 governorship election in the state following the death of the candidate of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Modu Fannami Gubio.
He was reelected in 2015 on the platform of the APC, where he also served as the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum.
His administration was troubled by insurgent attacks in the state, where the terrorist group, Boko Haram, took over local governments and created territories.
During his tenure as governor, the terrorists kidnapped 276 female students from the Government Girls Secondary School in the town of Chibok on the night of April 14–15, 2014.
Although Shettima put up a solid resistance to the actions of Boko Haram, about 20 of the 27 local governments in the state were occupied by the insurgents, leading to a humanitarian crisis.
Shettima’s first term as governor of the state focused on the rebuilding of churches, schools and communities destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents.
In 2017, he built 2,044 homes in Damasak, headquarters of the Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno state, formerly occupied by Boko Haram insurgents.
Some parts of the destroyed communities were rebuilt through the state’s Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement he created in the interest of insurgency victims.
The ministry was headed by the incumbent governor of Borno state, Babangana Zulum, who Shettima picked as his successor.
With the approval of the Nigerian military, Shettima also set up initiatives to protect the residents of the state against attacks by insurgents.
During his tenure, he collaborated with the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) to defend Borno residents from Boko Haram attacks.
Shettima was a critical voice against former president, Goodluck Jonathan administration’s handling of the Boko Haram crisis.
In Chapter four of his book, ‘My Transition Hours,’ Jonathan alleged that the Boko Haram insurgency that marred his reign was a conspiracy by the then opposition APC, in connivance with the Borno state government under Shettima’s leadership.
In turn, Shettima accused Jonathan of “sitting on facts” over the abduction of Chibok girls, some of who are still missing till date.
He is a serving senator of the 9th Assembly representing Borno Central Senatorial District.
Before his venture into politics, Shettima served in various capacities in the banking sector across different states.
In 1997, Shettima joined the African International Bank Limited as a Deputy Manager and became a Manager in 2001 before he moved to the Zenith Bank as head of the Maiduguri branch.
At Zenith Bank, Shettima rose to Senior Manager/Branch Head, Assistant General Manager (AGM)/Zonal Head (North-East), and Deputy General Manager/Zonal Head (North-East) before he stepped out of the Zenith Bank as a General Manager in 2007.
Shettima also worked with the Commercial Bank of Africa as an Agricultural Economist at its Ikeja Office, Lagos State (1993-1997).
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94
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