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Tag: Shettima

  • WAEC results: Reno is embarrassing Jonathan, Shettima’s spokesman replies

    WAEC results: Reno is embarrassing Jonathan, Shettima’s spokesman replies

    It is embarrassing that WAEC results obtained before adulthood is being used to argue about the leadership capacity of a 60-year-old President Goodluck Jonathan, whose 16 years of service as Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice President and President should have been sufficient to prove those claimed distinctions,” spokesman to Governor Kashim Shettima, Isa Gusau has replied Reno Omokri.

    Gusau was reacting to claims by Omokri Thursday night that Jonathan obtained seven distinctions in his West African School Certificate Examinations with a challenge to Governor Shettima to produce his WAEC results for comparison of leadership capacity.

    Omokri’s reaction was in response to a statement made by Governor Shettima as the Chairman of a book launch authored by the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) , Bolaji Abdullahi, who wrote on Jonathan’s presidency.

    “I just couldn’t imagine why Mr Reno Omokri chose to embarrass President Goodluck Jonathan by using WAEC result obtained before adulthood to argue about leadership capacity when in actual sense, those seven distinctions he claimed the former President obtained as a teenager, should have become evident in his reasoning and actions within the 16 years he served as Deputy Governor and Governor in Bayelsa State from 1999 to 2007 and the years he served as Vice President and President from 2007 to 2015 as a senior adult.

    “ In leadership, intelligence and capacity are never claimed, they prove themselves. It is really a joke for Mr Reno Omokri, whom I thought was smart, to have even cited those results. If he must discuss academics, I would have expected him to discuss scholarly contributions from President Jonathan’s Masters Degree and PHD research works, with evidence of publication in any academic journal, to show how the former President is improving education from his works as an adult and not as WAEC-writing teenager. It is really a big joke to use pre-adulthood WAEC in discussing the capacity of a 60-year-old statesman and I will never support a 50-year-old Governor Kashim Shettima getting involved in trading jokes. It is not in Governor Shettima’s character to boast about knowledge but should Reno insist, he is free to do a deep and factual reflection on Shettima’s handling of affairs in Borno State, he is free to talk to objective public affairs analysts and Reno is again free, to find out about Governor Shettima’s background from his secondary school, the University of Maiduguri where he had his first degree and was retained as lecturer, from University of Ibadan where he obtained his Master’s degree or he can just ‘Google search’ to find testimonies of Mr Jim Ovia about Kashim Shettima’s records of performance at the Zenith Bank.”

     

  • Jonathan clueless, almost sacked me over Chibok girls – Shettima

    Jonathan clueless, almost sacked me over Chibok girls – Shettima

    The Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, on Thursday described ex-President Goodluck Jonathan as a clueless leader and unsophisticated country person.

    He also revealed that the ex-President doubted the abduction of over 200 Chibok girls and was non-challant on the matter.

    He said Jonathan almost removed him as governor if not for the refusal of a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) and a former Minister of Special Duties, Alh.  Tanimu Turaki.

    He said Jonathan’s stewardship was such a turbulent period which would continue to shape for good or bad, the fortunes of the country.

    Kashima said the ex-President surrounded himself with an assorted crop of religious bigots and tribal kings unlike ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo who believes in the Nigerian project.

    Notwithstanding, he said Jonathan should be commended for conceding defeat and saving the nation from the precipice.

    He, however, said Nigeria needs good governance and not restructuring.

    The President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, also said Jonathan was not prepared for leadership.

    The governor took swipes at the ex-President at the launch of a book, “On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan won and lost Nigeria,” written by a former Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi.

    Shettima, who was the chairman of the launch, regaled a stunned audience with how Jonathan mismanaged the abduction of Chibok girls by Boko Haram.

    He said: “Instead of acting, Jonathan ordered that the Principal of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, should be locked up by the then Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Yusuf.

    “Sadly, Borno was the epicenter of the whole crisis that engulfed the Jonathan administration. This is the second book I am reading of the Jonathan saga, the first written by Olusegun Adeniyi.

    “I see former President Jonathan essentially a decent person, an unsophisticated country person caught up in the power politics in Nigeria

    “When the Chibok girls saga started, they made the President to believe that there was no abduction and that they were kidnapped by the Governor of Borno State to embarrass the Jonathan administration and he believed that line of story. I was in Chibok, my wife was in Chibok, there was global outcry about the abduction, but he was in a world of his own, created by the clowns and misfits around him.

    “I wasn’t invited to Abuja until nearly three weeks later and even when I was invited, I was happy that at last, I was getting the attention of my leader. I was asked to come to Abuja with the Commissioner of police, the DPO in Chibok, the Commissioner of Education, the military commander in Chibok and the Director of SSS in Borno.

    “We were all ushered in to the Villa and sadly when the President came in, he was still in the world of make-believe. He started threatening the Principal that he should tell him where the girls were. He was shouting, ‘Principal, you must tell me where those girls are, Commissioner of Police, you must tell me where the girls are.’

    “He immediately ordered the arrest of the Principal, the DPO, the Commissioner of Police and the Director of SSS, that they must produce the girls. In this very unfortunate saga, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, the Inspector-General of Police arrested them, took them to the police headquarters and told them he cannot hold onto them because he was a man of conscience. He let them go on self-recognition.

    “I was quite taken aback because I thought the solution was going to be found to a very grave national challenge. Instead, the President was still of the mindset that those girls were not abducted.

    “That goes to show the quality of leadership in this country. Incidentally, the Brigade Commander in Chibok was an Ijaw man and because they know that the President is such a very unsophisticated person, but such an honest man, they knew that if they brought his kinsman, they could have gotten him confused.

    “So, they deliberately refused to bring the Brigade Commander in Chibok and that denied the President from getting a true perspective of the issues at stake. But we have to give it to him that by conceding defeat , he saved the nation from the precipice.”

     

  • Shettima’s ‘first and last words’

    Working with a newspaper for about 10 years, I had the learning experience of reporting and managing reporters across the north-east, the Niger Delta, and some states in the south-east geo-political zones. At work, I met different categories of people and seen scenarios. Of particular note, I have monitored relationships between governors and appointees in the north and south. I have seen humiliated appointees get running stomach on the mere sight of governors.

    Just when I wished I never had to share the experiences of these appointees, I was appointed by a governor in February, 2012. Leaving Port Harcourt for the political office, my prayer was never to face the kind of humiliation I had seen appointees face under two particular governors, one in the Niger Delta and another in the North-east.

    Incidentally, I came face to face with my fears a month after my appointment. Governor Kashim Shettima had given me some specific assignments. They were complex. The man’s standard, especially on writings, is very high. Shettima reads line by line, takes copious note of accuracy in names and dates, corrects punctuation marks, restructure paragraphs and he screens every sentence in a plagiarism checker he has on his laptop. Being a university lecturer, Shettima is very tough on plagiarism and insists on citing sources even if he paraphrases what someone unknown once said. Meeting these standards, the assignment kept me indoors for a whole day. I had done substantial part of it but there was something I couldn’t achieve.

    Governor Shettima was reading some document when I walked into his office one night in March, 2012. He collected the papers I brought, looked at them and didn’t say anything. It was my vest first major task under him. I stood by the side, watched him drop the documents I gave him and shifted his attention back to what he was reading before I came in. His mind wasn’t with me anymore. I was totally disappointed in myself, thought I should leave but I didn’t want him to see me leaving. I thought of vanishing but didn’t have witchcraft or some Nollywood powers to disappear. Humanly, I decided to leave noiselessly; taking steps as soft as a cat and as quite as an unarmed thief whose safety would only rely on how quiet he is able to sneak. I retired home. Just when I had perfected plans to avoid the governor for a number of days, I got phone calls from two persons, one a security aide and a commissioner, calling my two lines. I picked that of the security aide and he said, ‘Oga dey call you’. It was a troubling invitation. I returned the commissioner’s call and he said the same thing in Hausa, ‘Oga na kira, kazo yanzu yanzu’ (the governor wants you now now). As I was driving to the Government House, I was recalling how aides get humiliated.

    Back in 2008, I had seen one governor in Borno State publicly calling his commissioners stupid. I had seen one commissioner rushing to the mosque near a governor’s office to seek divine intervention after he was told a governor in Borno was calling him. That governor was feared like Mr. Fir’auna (a.k.a Pharoah). He was feared because he could say just about anything to humiliate his aides and he never humiliates privately but publicly. His commonest insult in public was, ‘You are very stupid. Idiot’. I just couldn’t imagine reacting to that kind of humiliation.

    Finally, I arrived Governor Shettima’s office, met three persons in his office. Soon as he saw me approach his seat, he said, ‘Honourable, sorry, I didn’t know when you left my office. Actually when you came in, I was reading a security intelligence report, my mind was completely on the report. I called you back because I forgot to say thank you when you delivered that work. I have gone through it, I noticed the one you didn’t address but I will do it tonight when I get home. I will be closing as early as 8pm tonight so I can work on it at home. I am very grateful and I deeply appreciate your good efforts’.

    I was confused. So, I said, ‘Your Excellency, but I don’t know why you asked me to come back’. He said there was nothing else, he just realized he didn’t thank me and it was for that he sent for me. The governor said he didn’t want to speak to me on phone. ‘Ikon Allah!’ I sighed. When he closed a little after 8pm, I got home wondering. However, my instinct as a journalist said to me, the governor was probably acting drama. I found it unbelievable that a governor would invite his own appointee to ‘merely’ thank him. Of course I knew that most people, particularly politicians, have two (oftentimes, distinct) sides. There is ‘who they are’ and there is ‘who they want you to think they are’. So, I secretly decided to monitor Governor Shettima’s relationship with not just me but all of his aides. In over five years of working with him, Shettima’s ‘last’ words to aides who impress him, is ‘thank you so much’. My monitoring led me to identify he not only uses ‘last’ words but also a ‘first’ word. This first word is ‘PLEASE’. Governor Shettima will never ask anyone, (including his messengers and drivers) to do any task without using the word, ‘Please’. This is known to all. If he is not speaking in English, he will say ‘dan Allah’ (because of God) which is the commonest alternative for ‘please’ in Hausa.

    There is the common evidence that Shettima’s ‘first’ and ‘last’, are part of his unconscious normal but perhaps unknown to him, these words define the willingness with which aides sincerely key into his vision for Borno.

     

    • Gusau is Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy to Borno State governor.
  • Shettima justifies commission’s establishment

    Shettima justifies commission’s establishment

    Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima yesterday explained that the establishment of Northeast Development Commission (NEDC) was a response to the devastation caused by Boko Haram insurgents.

    The governor, in a statement by Malam Isa Gusau, his special assistant on Communications and Media Strategy, said the effect of Boko Haram insurgency was such that no geo-political zone wished to experience it.

    Shettima said: “Having a commission as NEDC is a response to large-scale devastation, which no geo-political zone should wish to experience.”

    He said Borno would experience 50 years of backwardness due to destruction caused by Boko Haram.

    “A comprehensive assessment report by the World Bank put the damage at over $9 billion.

    “NEDC will set out for the recovery of this backwardness so that the state recovers earlier than it would have taken us to recover.

    ”It is not something any section of the country should wish to experience.”

    He noted that the development demonstrated the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure rapid social and economic rebuilding of the region.

    The governor hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the bill.

    Shettima said Northeast would remain grateful to Buhari for his concern and commitment to their plight.

    He said they were appreciative of “the President’s open love for them” and the  National Assembly.

    “I must confess that if Buhari was not elected in 2015, only God knows what would have become of Borno and the rest of Northeast.

    “Buhari has made efforts to reverse years of neglect the Northeast suffered from 1979 to 2015.

    “Buhari is the greatest inspiration for us.

    “The President’s passion for the Northeast is understandable, because this is a region that lost thousands of its sons and daughters, suffered destruction of public and private infrastructure, worth $9 billion.”

  • No region should pray to have NEDC, says Shettima

    No region should wish to experience what the northeast faced to necessitate the North-East Development Commission(NEDC) Bill signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has stated.

    He spoke in Lagos at the weekend during an interview with journalists from the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Channels Television.

    According to him: “Having a Commission like the NEDC is a direct response to large scale devastation, which no geo-political zone should wish to experience.

    “If you look at the whole thing systematically, development commissions are largely set in place to fast track the recovery of huge economic losses.

    “Borno for instance was taking 50 years backward by the destructions of the Boko Haram.

    “What the NEDC will set out to do is to help us accelerate the recovery of this backwardness so that the State recovers earlier than it would have taken us to recover.”

    He appreciated Buhari for his commitment to the rehabilitation of the devastated region.

    “It is not something any section of the country should wish to experience.

    “I must confess that if Buhari wasn’t elected in 2015, only God knows what would have become of Borno and the rest of the northeast.

    “We have been on ground from 2011 to date, the difference between our present and the past in the northeast is no less than light and darkness.

    “Everyone in Nigeria is talking about the northeast today mainly because Buhari is passionate about the stability, recovery and prosperity of the northeast.

    “The President’s passion for the northeast is clearly understandable because this is a region that has lost thousands of its precious sons and daughters and suffered destructions of public and private infrastructure worth $9 billion.”

    He also praised the 8th National Assembly for passing the bill. According to him: “We will remain grateful to them. For Senators and Representatives from the northeast, as far as we are concerned, they have achieved 50 percent of what our people elected them to do by the passage and Presidential assent to the Bill establishing the NEDC.”

  • Nigeria must get post-secondary education right, say Ambode, Shettima, Dickson

    Nigeria must get post-secondary education right, say Ambode, Shettima, Dickson

    THREE governors, one senator, two professors and Confederation of African Football (CAF) chief yesterday identified post-primary school education as a critical step to guaranteeing a stable and prosperous future for Nigeria.

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode; Bornu State Governor Kashim Shettima and Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson said a well-developed secondary school education system would stem the tide of militancy, insurgency and instability threatening some parts of the country.

    They spoke in Lagos on ‘Raising a wise generation: Revamping Nigeria’s secondary education’ at a colloquium organised by Government College Ughelli Old Boys Association (Class of September 73).

    The event was chaired by Nigeria’s first female Vice-Chancellor Grace Alele Williams (former VC, University of Benin). Senator Oluremi Tinubu was special guest of honour.

    Other guests and speakers included the Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ish-aq Oloyede; Chairman, Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick, Prof. John Pepper Clark, his brother Ambassador B. A. Clark and Independent Chairperson of the Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL) Aisha Falode.

    The event also featured a fundraiser for a proposed N500 million technology centre at the college to groom pupils on entrepreneurial skills.

    Chief host and special guest of honour, Ambode, who was represented by Special Adviser on Education Obafela Bank-Olemoh, said secondary education is a critical stage in the education ladder “because it builds on the foundation laid at the primary level and also prepares students for the challenges of tertiary education”.

    He lamented the decline in education standards from what obtain in pre and early post-independence years.

    “The questions that come to mind on occasions such as this are: where and how did we get it wrong?

    “What is clear, however, is that the level to which our secondary education and by extension the education sector generally has degenerated, did not happen in one day.

    “It has been a progressive decline as a result of a combination of factors. The most talked about is inadequate funding,” Ambode said.

    The governor noted that revamping secondary education to raise a wise generation will require paying attention to “physical infrastructure to guarantee a conducive learning environment, provision of modern learning materials and equipment, competent and well-motivated teachers; and a curriculum whose content must be capable of imparting the right skills relevant to the needs of the 21st century”.

    The governor observed, however, that “funding alone will not guarantee the desired results if it is not complemented with strategic planning driven by creative and innovative ideas”.

    He explained that the launch of “Code Lagos”, “which would ensure that a million Lagosians will learn how to code in three years”, was part of his government’s effort to boost the quality of education.

    Shettima, who focused on girl-child education, lamented that the poor secondary education standard in the Northeast had multiple and wide ranging effects on the human development index.

    Shettima noted that terror group Boko Haram understood the importance of modern education that was why it forbade it.

    He said: “Boko Haram destroyed a total of 5,600 classrooms in Bornu State alone and they produced a total of 54,911 widows and 52,311 orphans.

    “We have no option as leaders but to invest in the education of our youths, because these orphans and widows, if we fail to take care of them, in 10 to 15 years, they will become the Frankenstein monster that will destroy all of us.”

    Dickson said the militancy in his part of the Niger Delta started seeing a marked reduction following extensive investment in developing post-secondary school infrastructure.

    “When I took over, there was not a single boarding school in Bayelsa State. If you’re wondering why some places have issues of militancy, insurgency, instability, criminality, unemployability and other similar crises, you just need to look at the state of and investment in education.

    “When I became governor in 2012, standing on the podium at my inaugural speech, I declared a state of emergency on education. When I came down, a lot of my friends told me I had destroyed my government. ‘Where are you going to get the money to fund such a weighty declaration?’ For me, it was a question of priority.

    “Now in Bayelsa, we have almost 15 model boarding schools. We also set up our flagship secondary school, the Ijaw National Academy, with over 1,000 students. All of them are on state government scholarships. We selected the best boys and girls from all the primary schools, irrespective of the background, capacity or pedigree of their parents, in all the Ijaw speaking areas along the coastline of Nigeria from Ondo to Awka Ibom.”

    Senator Tinubu urged Nigerians to invest in improving education standards across the country, as no government could do it alone.

    She said: “Many of us are dissatisfied with the state of education in Nigeria today. Indeed, those who understand the full ramifications, of defective, incomplete, non-competitive or non-existent education will be appalled. Already, it has been noted that due to inaccessibility of education and high incidences of drop outs, Africa lacks a critical mass of skilled labour.

    “Beyond the inaccessibility of formal schooling, we must also avert our minds to the quality of our schools.

    “We should be concerned about the nexus between the type, structure and standard of education in our country on the one hand and the quality of the students that graduate from our schools on the other hand.

    “We should concern ourselves with the curriculum and the need for relevant, current, useful and globally competitive education. We must also pay attention to the state of infrastructure, staffing, teacher training, and enrollment capacity vis-a-vis total population; the integrity of our examinations and the resultant certifications they confer.

    Prof. Williams urged the elite to focus on assisting teachers to upgrade their skills so they can impart world-class education on pupils.

  • Shettima redeploys 41 permanent secretaries

    Shettima redeploys 41 permanent secretaries

    Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State yesterday approved the posting and redeployment of 41 permanent secretaries in the state.

    Alhaji Yerima Sale, the Head of Service, made the announcement in a statement in Maiduguri. He explained that 27 permanent secretaries were redeployed while 14 others got new posting.

    He also said the governor approved the appointment of Alhaji Satomi Ahmad as the Executive Chairman, Borno State Roads Maintenance Agency.

    Sale noted that the appointment was with immediate effect.

    Until his appointment, Ahmad was the Chairman of the State Emergency Management Agency.

     Gana to deliver Oyo varsity’s convocation lecture

    A former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana is to deliver the 9th convocation lecture of Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), Oyo, scheduled to hold on October 12.

    Mr. Alvan Ewuzie, a Senior Assistant Registrar, Public Relations, said this in a statement in Ibadan yesterday.

    He said that the politician and former minister of information would deliver a lecture entitled ‘Building a culture of academic excellence in Nigerian Universities.’

    The lecture is scheduled to hold at the institution’s law auditorium.

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) three eminent personalities would be conferred with the honourary degrees during the convocation scheduled to hold on Oct. 13, in appreciation of their various contributions to the development of the state and the country.

    They are: Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi,  wife of Oyo State Governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi, and a businessman, Chief Tunde Afolabi.

     

     

  • Buhari, Shettima, Ganduje, Tambuwal meet over security

    •Northern governors urge army to be at alert

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday met behind closed doors with Governors Kashim Shettima (Borno), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano) and Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, before departing for New York, United States

    Malam Imam Liman, the Special Adviser to the Sokoto State Governor on Media, confirmed the meeting of the governors with the President on his Facebook page yesterday.

    The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, confirmed Buhari’s departure to New York, through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja

    Adesina posted on his Facebook page: “President Buhari departs Abuja to New York for 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 17, 2017.”

    It was gathered that the President might have been briefed by the governors on some national issues, including the security situations in their respective states.

    Shettima, who is also the Northern State Governors’ Forum chairman, in a statement issued in Maiduguri, lauded the residents of the region for keeping the peace in the face of the recent clashes between members of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and soldiers in some parts of the Southeast region.

    IPOB, which has been proscribed by the Southeast governors, was declared as a terrorist group by the military.

    Sokoto metropolis, on Saturday, however, witnessed minor social unrest as some armed youths in their hundreds, set ablaze a building along Bello Way where Igbo traders have shops in what appeared to be a response to reported attacks on some northern traders in some parts of the Southeast region.

    But the 19 Northern state governors, through the statement issued by Shettima, called on the army to remain on the alert in the region with a view to tackling any possible break down of law and order in the states.

    Buhari, after the meeting with the governors, left Abuja for New York to join other world leaders at the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 72).

    During the visit, he will participate in the General Debate where he was expected to deliver the country’s National Statement.

  • Shettima: ‘Anambra APC primaries easiest for our committee’

    Shettima: ‘Anambra APC primaries easiest for our committee’

    Governor of Borno State and chairman of the Anambra State APC 2017 Governorship primaries committee, Kashim Shettima on Sunday declared the tedious electoral process that lasted for nearly 24 hours as the easiest election himself and members of his committee were ever associated with mainly ?they had no candidate in mind and didn’t have any interest in who was to win.

    The Governor made the remark before declaring the results which was won by Mr Tony Nwoye who scored 2146 votes to beat his runner up, Andy Uba who scored 931 votes while George Moghalu came third with ?525 votes. A total of 4,333 votes were cast out which 4,302 were valid and 31 declared invalid. The elections which was covered live by the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA held Saturday with collation and counting lasting throughout the night till about 4pm the following Sunday at the Dora Akunyili Development Centre in Awka.

    “This primary election was obviously a tedious one but for me and members of the committee saddled with the responsibility of conducting the election, this is the easiest election we have ever been part of or witnessed. You see, when you are an election umpire, election becomes difficult only when you you have interest in who wins the elections because by having interest,  you have to battle with other contestants, battle with those who have different interests and battle with your own conscience in trying to bend the rules of the game to favour your interest. But so long as you are neutral as an election umpire, the election becomes easy. It is easy for all to know when you are trying to be fair and when you trying to be bias.  I am very proud of each and every member of our committee for being absolutely unbiased.

    I am very proud of observers from the APC National headquarters led by Presidential Adviser Ojudu. I am proud of the APC leadership in Anambra State and everyone that helped in making us stand by the principles of conducting a free, fair and credible primary election, particularly the security agencies. The Commissioner of Police did a wonderful job. I thank and commend the INEC observers for being with us all through the processes” the Governor said.

     

  • Boost to anti-terrorism war, says Shettima

    Boost to anti-terrorism war, says Shettima

    Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s return to Nigeria after a medical vacation in London as a big boost toward ending the Boko Haram terrorism in the Northeast.

    Shettima stated this in a statement issued by his spokesman, Malam Isa Gusau, Maiduguri yesterday.

    He congratulated the people of the Northeast on the return of the President.

    “The people of the Northeast should be congratulated as the major beneficiaries of Buhari’s return because of his open love, empathy and keen interest in addressing the security challenges in the sub-region,’’ Shettima said.

    He said aside from his zeal in fighting insecurity, the President had been magnanimous in appointing individuals from the sub-region into key Federal Government’s positions.