Kashim Shettima: what Nigerians want from their leaders
By Idang Alibi
Last week, in a piece entitled ‘Sai Alu’ and irresponsible generosity I had cause to lament the tendency among some of our political leaders to want to buy cheap popularity by recklessly dishing out cash gift to the people rather than sitting down to carefully marshal out a development agenda that will be faithfully implemented to free their people from poverty, violence and avoidable deaths from easily treatable illnesses and diseases. Today, we are presenting a good example of one political leader who has given promise that he is not out to engage in populism but has rather sat down and carefully thought out what he wants to do to move his people and his domain several notches higher than when he came in.
Let me warn that what I am trying to do here is not to tell a classic story of the bad guy versus the good guy. No. The goal here is a humble, honest and patriotic effort to draw attention to the right, honourable and profitable way our leaders should go in contradistinction to the wrong, dishonourable and ultimately unprofitable manner some of them seem inclined in their pursuit of leadership. The whole objective is to drive home the message that our leaders should not be hungry for immediate gratification of vote-winning popularity but to approach governance in a way that they will leave solid legacies that will speak for them years after they have left office and even left this planet. Today, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo is still remembered with near veneration as a god by the Yorubas who have enjoyed, and still continue to enjoy and may forever enjoy, the legacies he left behind. Yet when he was alive Awo was not famous for generosity the type some of our governors with ‘donatus’ mentality display today.
On Saturday February 18, at the Ladi Kwali Hall of the Abuja Sheraton Hotel, a distinguished assembly of some of the most informed journalists, commentators and pundits who have some of the sharpest minds and the sharpest pens in the land, was congregated to listen to the youthful governor of Borno state, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, roll out, so to say, his plan for Borno. My humble self was privileged to be among this select group of gentlemen from the nation’s print medium.
With a soft voice and youthful mien that hide the sharp intellect that he possesses, Governor Shettima began his address with an analysis of the humble beginning of what has today metamorphosed into the notorious fighting machine known as the Boko Haram. He said widespread poverty, illiteracy, high rate of unemployment, especially among the youth, and disappointment with low quality leadership over the years, provided the fertile ground for the germination and nourishment of the Boko Haram sect into the monster that it has become today. He said ‘’despite his misguided ideology’’, the late charismatic leader of the once peaceful movement, Mohammed Yusuf, did certain intelligent things to secure the fanatical loyalty and support of his disciples.
He said Yusuf used to provide his disciples a meal a day. He also had in place a kind of youth empowerment scheme under which his followers were given seed money to engage in petty trading and wheel barrow pushing. And to give his men self worth and dignity, the leader made marriage easy for the men by arranging marriages between his sect members. The implication of this is that to be able to defeat the Boko Haram and other anti-social elements, we must address the root of the social ills that breed groups like the radical sect Boko Haram.
This led Shettima, a former banker and university lecturer, to go into facts and figures about how he intends to get Borno out of poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. He told the gathering that come the next planting season, the state will plant 20 million Gum Arabic trees, an economic tree that will go a long way in addressing the triple problems of desertification, unemployment and poverty. He further disclosed that the state will also plant 5 million seeds of the miracle plant called jatropha as part of a socio-economic empowerment strategy of moving Borno forward with agriculture as the arrow head. He said the oil yield from the Jatropha plants will be used to power the 30 KVA power station belonging to the Chad Basin Authority which has now been abandoned but which his administration will rehabilitate to augment electricity supply to the state.
The gathering listened intently as Shettima continued to unroll his vision and mission. When Settima disclosed that he inherited 63 billion Naira from his predecessor, Governor Ali Modu Sheriff, many raised their heads to hear properly how he has ‘dealt’ with such a hefty inheritance, possibly in a reckless fashion typical of many of those who are entrusted with high offices in our country but wait for it. This former banker told his audience that he has not only not been in a hurry to spend a kobo out of it but that he has grown it to about 80 billion now. And surprise of all surprises, he said that since no single individual has a monopoly of wisdom, that sometime in April, he will convoke a Borno Stakeholders Conference to work out a Marshall Plan for the utilisation of it for the greatness of Borno.
At the end of his presentation, this select group of journalists, each of whom has built a distinguished career in fault-finding and criticism for over 30 years, agreed that what they had followed in the past 40 minutes had indeed been a masterful presentation which showed a leader who was out to make a difference.
And I could not help but reflect to myself that here is a young man of about 45 years who by self admission, had inherited 63 billion from his immediate predecessor and has grown it to about 80 billion. If Shettima were a typical Nigerian governor who wants the immediate applause of the voters, his first inclination is to go on a binge: make Government House and his personal house places for daily celebration where a hungry throng will troop to every day to have a daily meal and a few cash notes to provide music to their souls to sing about his ‘generosity’.
The man can also hire the services of the best PR men in the world with a fraction of that amount to trumpet his achievements and make him look larger than life. He could also embark upon a most vicious campaign to demonise his predecessor and benefactor in order to be seen as a man of his own, give money to buy ‘’Aluta’ students to his side and to also buy traditional rulers and religious leaders who instead of being the conscience of the nation, have unfortunately become some of the main problems with Nigeria. Market women, a few vocal members of the ruling elite, violent and muscular motor park touts and all manner of political factors would have been ‘’settled’’ with tiny sums from that huge till if Shettima has a mind to steal and leave Borno’s social ills to fester and produce more enthusiastic recruits for Boko Haram . But this gentleman has not elected to do so. And this is what we Nigerians want from our leaders: let them play less politics and show more passion for development. This is the promise Shettima has offered.
It is true that there is a wide gulf between promise and actualisation. But a man with good promises can be seen from the way he has articulated his goals and the way he sees his mission. Some of us who were privileged that night to listen to Shettima came away with the impression that in Shettima, the people have made a good choice of a leader who will take delight in playing endless politics but will play politics of development which is what we expect of our political leaders. Some of us have heard with our own ears what Governor Shettima has earmarked for the people of Borno. In the coming days we want to see what he will actually eyemark for the long suffering people of this state whose lives have been torn apart by the ferociousness of the Boko Haram sect.
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Comments Page: 1  posted on 03-01-2012, 08:24:15 AM
 Denker
 Re: Kashim Shettima: what Nigerians want from their leaders
mallam Idang Alibi, report back in a year time and tell us how far the governor has gone with his initiatives/plans...vivamus.
posted on 03-02-2012, 02:56:02 AM
Olamide
Re: Kashim Shettima: what Nigerians want from their leaders
Yes, Denker. give the guy another year and his party would have taken 'loans' out of that money. Borno will be borrowing money to pay civil servants if the guy join PDP. Until this problem of Boko Haram surfaced, Borno was known as the home of peace with good roads. Does wheel-barrow pushing and selling sugarcane on the streets 'empowerment'? Does providing wives to underage boys empowerment (lol). Our politicians provide 'Keke Marwa' to graduates in the name of self-employment and they feel good about it. Does that make it feel right?
Is the writer talking about 30 Megawatts or 30 KVA really? A 30 KVA generator can fit conveniently in the back of a Toyota Pick-up with other things if you are moving house and I am not sure Borno state is planting 5 million jathropha trees to provide fuel for an average-sized generator unless it is another 'government magic'.
posted on 03-02-2012, 05:54:08 AM
Santoma
Re: Kashim Shettima: what Nigerians want from their leaders
If the ability to articulate issues is the only requirement for leadership, Nigeria by now would have reached the state of utopia. Have you listened to Babangida or Obasanjo or even Abacha? These are great guys when it comes to talking but when it comes to translating that talk into action what they will tell you is ..leave that one aside jare!
posted on 03-02-2012, 06:47:58 AM
Enyi
Re: Kashim Shettima: what Nigerians want from their leaders
QUOTE:
Yes, as we say in my part of the country- Disregard the inscription on the bus and enter the bus.
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