Olayomi Koiki and Morakinyo Akinosun
Popular Yoruba activist Dr. Chief Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho – has asked Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to caution Vice President Kashim Shettima over his alleged attacks on the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch.
Shettima had chided Badenoch for commenting on corruption in Nigeria while proclaiming her true identity as true Yoruba and saying she has nothing in common with northern Nigeria – filled with Islamic extremists and terrorists.
However, Igboho in a personally signed statement made available to reporters on Sunday called on Tinubu to caution Shettima against launching verbal attacks on the leader of the British Conservative Party for emphasising her true identity as a member of Yoruba ethnic group and expressing her view on corruption, which had been the bane of development in the country.
“It is incumbent for President Bola Tinubu, who is also from Yoruba ethnic nationality and lineage to direct Shettima to face his duties as vice president rather than dissipate energy or engage in verbal war against Badenoch, who merely expressed her candid but true opinion on the pervasive corruption in the Nigeria’s system,” the statement said.
“When the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari was in power, nobody dared launch offensive or verbal attacks against his Fulani ethnic nationalities without being dealt with or muzzled through the instrumentality of the state or paid the supreme price.
“It is on record that because of my agitation against wanton destruction of farmlands in the South West and other parts of the country, killing of farmers and mindless sexual violations of their daughters, and wives by rampaging Fulani herders, which characterised Buhari’s administration, security agents on his order, stormed my residence in July 1, 2021, gruesomely shot dead two persons and arresting about 13 others.
“Majority of Nigerians are currently being subjected to harrowing experience, excruciating poverty due to harsh economic policies and bugged down by kidnapping and other forms of insecurity, but the Federal Government is still groping in the dark finding solutions. Instead of deploring measures to mitigate the suffering of the masses and frontally tackle the nation’s challenges, Vice President Kashim Shettima is busy taking on Badenoch.
“When has it become a sin for someone to express his or her opinion or say the obvious about how corruption has retarded the growth of Nigeria as a nation or proclaiming her true identity as a member of Yoruba ethnic divide. The Vice President should concentrate his energy on the performance of his duties rather than chasing shadow through his invectives on Kemi Badenoch.
“It is high time President Bola Tinubu called Shettima to order now to desist from needless verbal attacks and face his duties as the vice president of the country.”
KASHIM SHETTIMA
Kashim Shettima, is a Nigerian politician who is the 15th and current vice president of Nigeria. He served as governor of a terror-ravaged northeastern Borno State, from 2011 to 2019. His term in office was dominated by the deadly Boko Haram insurgency
Shettima, 58, became the governor without setting out to be one. He was brought in as a replacement after the winner of the governorship candidate of the All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP) Modu Fannami-Gubio was shot dead by Boko Haram insurgents in January 2011.
He was accused of masterminding the killing of the late candidate. But the allegation did not stop him from being elected governor. The allegation of having a hand in the death of Mr Fannami-Gubio continued even after his first term in office. He repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder.
Shettima was accused of being the brain behind Boko Haram terror group.
The abduction of 276 pupils of Government Secondary School Chibok in 2014 almost caused Shettima his integrity. The president at the time, Goodluck Jonathan, and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said Shettima masterminded the abduction to help his new party the All Progressives Congress (APC) win election.
On several occasions, Shettima was also accused of not reaching out to Jonathan to discuss security issues. But the former governor said it was the president who should be reaching out to governors in states battling insecurity.
Shettima left office in 2019, and was elected to the senate. After winning primary for Senate election in 2022, he withdrew from the nomination to become Bola Tinubu‘s running mate.
On 1 March 2023, Bola Tinubu was declared as the winner of a controversial and violence-marred presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) . Thus, Shettima became the Vice President-elect of Nigeria.
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