Why Kashim Shettima is popular in the North-West

The problems besetting the whole country are, majorly, the inadequacies of leadership.

Of course, there have been pockets of leaders here and there, at all levels of government that have demonstrated stellar qualities, and the way they have led their states into an era of unmatched infrastructure development attested to their acumen and selflessness. In each state, there have been times where certain leaders have done well and even in death, some of them are still being talked about in the positives. But when you look at it wholesomely and if you situate the alarming rate of insecurity, joblessness and illiteracy, especially in the north, high level of corruption, infrastructure decay in many states as well as the creeping  hunger that is prevalent all over, you begin to question the rationality of any claim to growth in the country.

The indices of development and economic growth that are being bandied about cannot make sense to the common man if we still cannot deal with some of the basic problems of our people and country. Despite the fact that the source of the bulk of income for all states in the country is largely the federation account, we still can deduce a clear element of disparity in the level of development from one state to another. Take Sokoto and Borno for example. Despite the drawback occasioned by Borno’s decade-old insurgency, the two states share similarities in inadequate internally generated revenue base; yet Sokoto lags behind on the indices of development overall. But why is this so?

In each dispensation, you see some governors doing better than others even when they have the same resource source, limitations and constraints. At the time Gombe was witnessing massive infrastructural development during the combined era of Goje and Dankwambo with just eleven local government areas and understandably lean funding from the federation account, some bigger states with far higher funding base, were found to have, due to bad leadership choices, done so irretrievably badly.

This brings us to the object of my piece. Why is former Borno State Governor (now Senator) Kashim Shettima so popular in the North-Western states of Nigeria almost in the same way he is popular in his native North Eastern states? Believe me, the man has found a place in the heart of the generality of middle cadre and lower segment of the society in this part of the country.

Three factors, I must say, must have accounted for this. Number one factor is the plethora of mindboggling achievements which the senator had garnered in his eight years as Borno State governor. Factor number two is the selfless manner he spearheaded an excellent change of baton of leadership which brought current Governor Babagana Zulum to power. That Zulum has turned out to be an exceptional pick; an icing on the cake. The third is the heart and unparalleled courage he had shown; he stood his grounds, and refused to flee despite legitimate reasons to, and the sincerity of his leadership in the face of all the dangers. Kashim Shettima passed through a moment when the north was looking for a hero, took advantage of it, and played his cards very well.

The way he sidelined his closest political and kinship sidekicks whose loyalty and the friendship he had cultivated since childhood, and each of whom was sure to be a perfect stooge and went for the best man for the job had unsettled the usual dynamics in Nigerian politics. He literally poached Zulum from his teaching job at the University, appointed him Rector of a Polytechnic, made him a commissioner, assigned him very difficult and risky jobs, studied his commitment, transparency, courage and competence, and finally mentored him to become governor even when he knew that the man he picked was not going to take orders from him.  In Nigeria, this uncommon sense of duty was unprecedented.

Every state in the north needs the Kashim Shettima mantra of leadership which is to govern as selflessly as he did and handed over, not to a man that would entrench his dynasty and control, but to a Professor that has the proven capacity to serve the state.

Mentorship is vital in sustaining development. We are where we are today in some states because outgoing leaders would deliberately anoint their stooges to succeed them regardless of how incompetent and unsuitable they are. The objective is to sustain a legacy that is tailored towards sustaining one person’s relevance even when it is clearly inimical to the development of the state in the long run. We must tell ourselves the truth that we the people have a hand in the way we are pushed left, right, and centre by our leaders. The implication is that if we allow political profiteers and speculators to corner power, we should not blame anybody but ourselves. Democratic governance has given us the latitude to follow due process to fire anybody who misuses the power we entrusted under their care. Every four years, there are rounds of elections and we determine who continues if he or she merits it, or we fire him or her if we deem fit. This latitude is what makes the presidential system of governance we practice very fluid and people-driven.

All the upheavals in the north are products of economic leadership irresponsibility. If the resources of this country had been well channelled; if we had, all these years, invested heavily in education, industrialisation, job creation and food production, we would not have been in this mess. As it is today, we are only lamenting on missed opportunities that would have made this country truly great. And we still have no option; we must go back to the basics to start to retrace our steps. There is apparently no short cut to it; no corners to cut to prosperity.

Shanono, a former banker, ,contributed this piece from Kano.