By Prof. Shehu Liberty

Let me say from the beginning that it is not my intention to join issues with anybody on the above subject matter. It will be recalled that the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Vice-Presidential Candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima held a very healthy meeting with the Business Community on Tuesday, 1st November, 2022 in the bubbling mega city of Lagos. Undoubtedly, the meeting afforded the flag bearers of the APC to explain their Action Plan to the Business Community, which they recently unveiled to the general public and was very successful.

As expected, Asiwaju and Shettima performed admirably by demonstrating their high quality during the presentations and at the question and answer session. In his usual humorous manner, Shettima brilliantly thrilled the audience with his oratory, depth of knowledge and ideas. They comprise of renowned captains of industries and accomplished private sector chieftains, who gave him an extraordinary standing ovation.

The former University don, former accomplished Banker, former two-time Governor of Borno State and Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, did not in anyway disappoint his audience nor his large supporters across the country. Senator Shettima demonstrated his acclaimed refined intellect, capacity, disposition and political wisdom. Indeed, he has sufficiently justified his choice as Vice-Presidential candidate of the Ruling Party. Shettima has also further proved to be a great asset to the APC and the country as a whole.

In the course of his breathtaking presentation, Senator Kashim Shettima spoke extensively about their vision for a better and more prosperous Nigeria of our dream. He also talked about the kind of leadership that is required to catapult our highly blessed but badly traumatized country to greatness. To buttress his point on the essentials of the desired Leadership that will accelerate the development of Nigeria in the 21st Century, which largely thrives on Science, Technology, Education, and Peace amongst others, Senator Shettima made a valid juxtaposition.

Shettima also evaluated the three (3) main contenders in the 2023 presidential race namely, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC; Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who has unsuccessfully contested five times for the office of President of Nigeria in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019, funny enough, under different Political Parties and Peter Obi of the Labour Congress. Atiku is, again, contesting in 2023 and from all indications, he will most likely lose.

Given the above scenario, Senator Shettima stated that “Atiku Abubakar is not Abraham Lincoln, he is more of a Raila Odinga, a Kenyan Politician and leader of the opposition and that Asiwaju will retire him permanently to Dubai”, where he returns after every unsuccessful election. Odinga, like Atiku, unsuccessfully stood for election as President of five times. That was a statement of fact by Senator Shettima, which elicited laughter amongst the audience. In the case of Abraham Lincoln, his road to the White House in the United States of America was weighed down with several failures and disastrous happenings from 1816 to 1860 when he was eventually elected President.

Senator Shettima also evaluated the performances of these three (3) public office holders in Nigeria, which are commonly known to Nigerians. According to Shettima “I respect Atiku Abubakar but leadership goes beyond unstatesmanlike ranting (not befitting a political leader whose wisdom, integrity etc win great respect). Apparently, Senator Shettima was referring to Atiku Abubakar’s recent unfortunate outburst and display of politics of ethnic profiling in Kaduna, which was severely condemned by well-meaning Nigerians.

It was indeed reckless, divisive, dangerous and self-serving to say the North does not need a Yoruba and Ibo in 2023. Instead of an issues based campaign, Atiku Abubakar resorted to ethnicity, perhaps, out of desperation and realization of the glaring fact that he is again on the road to his familiar track. Notwithstanding, it was unnecessary, unacceptable and unexpected of a former Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whose political slogan is “Unifier”. In this regard, Senator Shettima was quite right and spoke accurately.

Predictably, PDP seems to be deeply troubled and embarrassed by the way and manner Senator Shettima’s judgment on Atiku Abubakar and to some extent on Peter Obi received instant endorsement amongst many Nigerians, especially the Youths whose tweets and comments in the Social Media were overwhelming. As a demonstration of the PDP’s annoyance, it immediately unleashed one of Atiku Abubakar’s political attack dogs or is it spokespersons that goes by the name Daniel Bwala, who arrogantly, needlessly, maliciously, unfairly, incorrectly, fraudulently and mischievously attacked Distinguished Kashim Shettima a day after the Lagos meeting on Channels TV.

I listened to Daniel Bwala’s amusing, uninspiring and washed-out interview on Channels, Politics Today, on Wednesday, 2nd November, 2022, which was at the same time distasteful and indeed appalling. It was very disappointing to say the least. The shamelessness and hypocrisy exhibited by this hitherto promising political commentator during that interview leaves much to be desired and is condemnable. In an attempt to impress his benefactor, Daniel Bwala only succeeded in ridiculing himself and exposing his worthlessness. It turned out to be a case of a drowning man clutching at a straw. What a tragedy!

Regrettably, under the garb of defending Atiku Abubakar, his benefactor, Bwala engaged in dubious political outing that was unmistakably misleading to the general public especially to those that do not know him, his dirty politics and antecedents. The entire interview on Channels by Bwala smacks of contradictions, blatant falsehood, perversion of facts, mischief and political inexperience. I must say with all sense of seriousness that I really pity Bwala for many reasons. Many commentators are really wondering what has happened to Daniel Bwala? No one is against him for promoting his benefactor’s interest, which in itself is no crime at all if done in a civilized manner with decorum.

In that hollow, bigotry-laced Channels interview, which even the anchor, Seun Okinbaloye cautioned him, Bwala threw decency under the bus and engaged in pedestrian analysis and campaign of calumny against Senator Kashim Shettima. In his desperation to achieve his unholy goal, Bwala strangely mentioned three (3) issues supposedly to discredit Senator Shettima over his Lagos outing that has been adjudged extraordinary.

Fortunately, all the three issues were not new and have been sufficiently discussed in the public space when they happened. Despite the desperate attempt by the PDP under former President Goodluck Jonathan to use the abduction of the Chibok girls in Borno State against former Governor Shettima, facts surrounding the unfortunate incident pointed to the contrary. So, everything Bwala was ranting about the Chibok girls abduction did not hold water and was merely chasing shadow.

It is imperative to point out that the PDP of the old did not succeed in using the Chibok girls debacle to harm the reputation of Senator Shettima and Bwala, their new recruit, has also woefully failed in this dangerous conspiracy. The facts surrounding the matter will speak for themselves anytime.

The other laughable issue mentioned by Bwala in order to pull down Senator Shettima was the arrest of Kabiru Sokoto, the notorious Boko Haram Kingpin and Bomber on January, 14th, 2012 at the Borno Governor’s lodge in Abuja. Isn’t it ridiculous for Bwala to want to use settled issue against Senator Shettima, whose only “crime” was being the Governor at the time of the arrest? Perhaps, people have been overrating Bwala’s intelligence all the while.

Security report on the matter revealed that Kabiru Sokoto infiltrated the Borno Governor’s lodge in a plot to kidnap the innocent children of Senator Shettima, who were relocated from Maiduguri to Abuja for safety reasons. If not for the vigilance of our security and Almighty God’s intervention, these children will have been kidnapped for ransom. Disappointingly, Bwala shamelessly chose victim blaming to achieve his dubious game plan. This matter has also been long settled.

The third issue Daniel Bwala raised in an unintelligent manner at that infamous Channels interview was the fabricated allegation orchestrated by the Borno PDP against the dynamic, focused, transparent, committed and people-oriented Governor of Borno State, His Excellency, Professor Babagana Umar Zulum, FNSE, mni, CON. The PDP in Borno alleged that President Buhari told the Shehu of Borno during his visit to Maiduguri that he gave Borno State Government an additional N2 billion monthly to feed the surrendered Boko Haram members.

Happily, the Presidency had reacted to the wild allegation through Buhari’s Media Aide Mallam Garba Shehu. Shehu categorically said Mr. President NEVER mentioned such a thing when he visited the Shehu of Borno’s Palace recently. According to Mallam Shehu “The message making the buzz in the Social Media that the Federal Government has been giving N2 billion every month to Borno State should be dismissed for what it is: FAKE NEWS”. Bwala had clearly lost his mind and requires spiritual reawakening to find his soul. Perhaps, Senator Dino Melaye will have done better.

Yet a lawyer spokesperson had the effrontery to raise this fake news in his Channels interview as a way to discredit Senator Shettima despite the fact that it was debunked by the Presidency. What do you call this if not insanity? It was therefore outrageous to listen to a lawyer of Bwala’s standing speaking without any iota of evidence. How can a good lawyer rely on unfounded information and use it against someone just to be seen to be defending his benefactor? It was pretty obvious that Bwala had nothing tangible to say to defend Atiku Abubakar.

It is common practice that in Nigeria when political activities/campaigns start, truth is the first casualty. Facts are usually perverted and news prejudiced for political expediency. Understandably, we are now in the season of politics and of mud-slinging to pull people down as we approach the 2023 elections. However, there is the need for caution, especially by Daniel Bwala whose credibility has been badly bruised at the moment for obvious reasons.

Daniel Bwala sadly behaved in a way that was totally unbecoming of a lawyer at the Channels interview. He should know that there are consequences for his actions, especially when he resorts to false accusations; make weighty, unfounded allegations and insinuations. Even as a disgruntled former APC member, Bwala must not be crossing the redline to impress his new benefactor.