There is one thing you cannot take away from Vice President Kashim Shettima: his unquestionable loyalty to his principal, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. From the moment he stepped into the role of Nigeria’s Number Two, he has cast himself firmly in the shadow of the Number One. Watch him at any function, whether at home or abroad, and the pattern is unmistakable: “President Tinubu says… President Tinubu believes… President Tinubu has directed…” Shettima speaks as though every word must first carry the imprimatur of the man he serves.
It is this posture that made President Tinubu’s birthday tribute to his deputy so significant. In a message that went beyond ceremonial goodwill, Tinubu praised Shettima as a “loyal partner in governance,” a man of courage and tenacity whose vibrancy had strengthened the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Every day,” Tinubu wrote, “you have justified my choice.” In a political culture where loyalty is often fleeting, those words rang like both an endorsement and a warning — a reminder that true partnership in Nigeria’s presidency is as rare as it is precious.
Nigeria’s history is littered with stories of friction between presidents and their deputies. Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar, once political Siamese twins, became bitter antagonists — their falling-out casting a long shadow over Nigeria’s democracy. Goodluck Jonathan and Namadi Sambo had what could be described as a quiet coexistence, but one so muted that Sambo was often accused of being absent in substance. Even Muhammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo, who began with warmth and visible camaraderie, saw their partnership cool in later years as cabal politics edged the vice president out of sensitive circles.
Against this backdrop, the Tinubu–Shettima duo stands out:Shettima has embraced the role of deputy not as a consolation prize but as an active assignment. He has been deployed to international summits and entrusted with delicate economic diplomacy. Wherever he goes, he carries the President’s name like a banner. Tinubu, a veteran of betrayals and intrigues, knows the value of such fealty.
The mutual praise exchanged on Shettima’s 59th birthday is therefore not mere sentimentality; it is part of a deliberate effort to project cohesion at the top, to reassure Nigerians that the leadership is united in purpose.
For his part, Shettima responded with characteristic humility. In his “Message of Gratitude,” he described Tinubu’s words as profoundly humbling and reaffirmed the bond they share. He wrote of the true measure of a man being found not in monuments but in the affection of others, a line that revealed the reflective side of a politician often painted as sharp-tongued and combative.
He pledged never to take for granted the honour of serving alongside Tinubu, framing it as both a duty and a lesson. “I have watched you shoulder the burden of difficult choices,” he wrote, “steering our nation through turbulent waters into a harbour of stability that promises abundance.” It was not flattery but a glimpse of how Shettima sees his principal: a man making hard calls in a country unaccustomed to pain before gain.
The relationship between presidents and their deputies has always been fraught in Nigeria, largely because of the “what next” question. The vice presidency is by definition a waiting room, but in our politics, the waiting room is rarely quiet. Deputies often nurture ambitions of succession, sometimes too openly, leading to inevitable rifts.
Shettima appears to have chosen a different path. By doubling down on loyalty, he has effectively neutralised suspicion and carved a role for himself as Tinubu’s foremost defender.
That strategy seems to be paying off. Tinubu’s words on his birthday were not those of a president tolerating a deputy; they were those of a man who sees his partner as central to his project. That bond, if it endures, could alter the pattern of Nigeria’s presidential history.
What makes the Tinubu–Shettima partnership intriguing is that it extends beyond official duties. Tinubu described their relationship as a bond across regions and traditions, united in purpose. In a country often divided along fault lines, that imagery matters. The South-West and the North-East are not natural political bedfellows; yet, in these two men, they have found common cause.
It is also strategic. Tinubu needs the North-East’s political weight as much as Shettima needs the South-West’s. Their partnership is therefore both political arithmetic and personal alignment. And Nigerians, weary of fractured presidencies, have reason to hope that this alignment continues.
But politics is not static. Today’s harmony can be tomorrow’s tension. The road to 2027 will test this relationship in ways birthday tributes cannot anticipate.
The cynics already whisper about potential cracks. Nigerian politics thrives on speculation, and loyalty is always tested when stakes rise. Yet, as of today, Tinubu and Shettima appear determined to script a different story.
For Nigerians, the Tinubu–Shettima relationship is not just about personalities; it is about stability. A united presidency offers coherence in governance, clarity in communication, and credibility in policy execution. A divided presidency, on the other hand, paralyses decision-making and fuels uncertainty.
We have lived through both. We know what it means when deputies rebel, when cabals hijack, when presidents grow suspicious of their own partners.
The Tinubu–Shettima duo, for all its imperfections, offers a rare moment of alignment. It would be in the country’s interest for that alignment to endure.
At 59, Kashim Shettima stands at a crossroads. He has been governor, senator, and now vice president. He has known both the brutality of insurgency in Borno and the pressures of national office. His legacy will not be written by titles but by how he navigates the delicate dance of loyalty and ambition.
For now, he wears the badge of loyalty proudly, and his principal has publicly recognised it. Whether history remembers him as just a dutiful deputy or as something greater will depend on the choices ahead. But one thing is already clear: Shettima has secured for himself a rare place in Nigeria’s political story — as the man who, at least for now, stood unwaveringly by Bola Tinubu when it mattered most.
