Vice President Kashim Shettima has revealed that some individuals allegedly warned President Bola Tinubu against wearing traditional Borno outfits he gifted him during the 2023 campaign, claiming the clothes were spiritually manipulated and could lead to Tinubu’s death.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at the launch of former Head of State Yakubu Gowon’s autobiography, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, Shettima said Tinubu dismissed the allegation and intentionally wore the outfits repeatedly to prove he was not influenced by superstition.
“When I came back from China, he said: ‘Sit down. Your people came to me and said I should stop wearing those dresses you gave me. They said I must have been charmed, and that I am going to die and you will become the president,’” Shettima recounted.
According to the Vice President, Tinubu rejected the claims immediately because they “did not add up.”
“Their story did not add up, because when you gave me those dresses, I was an aspirant. I wasn’t even the candidate. Neither were you the vice presidential candidate,” Shettima quoted Tinubu as saying.
He added that the President deliberately wore the Borno attire for an entire week to publicly dismiss the rumours.
“For one week, to prove to them that he is not a fetish, he wore those dresses. These are some of the gimmicks taking place in power circles in Nigeria nowadays,” Shettima stated.
The Vice President said the incident reflects the growing atmosphere of suspicion within Nigeria’s political space, contrasting it with the trust that existed during Gowon’s era.
Recalling an earlier story shared by the Sultan of Sokoto, Shettima noted that Gowon used to receive gallons of fura from the Sultan’s family weekly without suspicion.
“But now the game is different. Suspicion smears our relationships, and it ought not to be. We are essentially one people tied to a common destiny,” he said.
Shettima also praised Gowon for promoting national unity through initiatives like the National Youth Service Corps and ECOWAS, describing the former military ruler as “the last man standing” among Nigeria’s post-independence military leaders.
“There are people who are remembered before they leave office. There are others whose memory endures because the office became, in their hands, an instrument of national meaning. General Gowon belongs to the second company,” he added.
Ending his speech with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., Shettima urged Nigerians to embrace unity over division.
“Let us learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools,” he said.
