Realities of life

Within Nigeria, there is a prominent politician named Kashim Shettima. Currently, (2023), he is contesting the vice presidential seat on behalf of the All Peoples Congress (APC) political party in the February presidential elections.

Previously, Mr. Shettima was governor and senator respectively for the violent and restive Nigerian state of Borno, where the Islamic extremist insurgents, Boko Haram, launches brutal attacks against innocent people.

As a politician who formerly worked as a banker, now a wealthy man, Shettima not only fought the (jihadist) insurgency with the State’s arsenal but also supported families affected by the permanent conflict that has killed thousands and caused the displacement of millions. He added to his generosity a Fulani family, who are affected by the conflict.

One of these Fulani families Mr. Kashim Shettima had helped their son to attend school abroad, in order to escape the "western education is forbidden" policy of the murderous Islamic fundamentalists, whose founder has now been killed. His name was Muhammad Yussif. He was a young Muslim cleric.

In some places of Nigeria where Boko Haram operates, those who want to gain a "foreign education" will have to run away from the country. Some school girls have been kidnapped and forced into marriages with Boko Haram militants. Some young schoolboys have been arrested and have been trained as fighters, or as child soldiers.

The Fulani family he helped later visited Mr. Shettima to thank him for his good deeds. He received them hospitably and even shared a meal with them. To remember and document it, he took pictures with them, which were posted on social media sites.

How today's financially driven world of politics can turn good intentions into evil! That picture with the Fulani family was opposed by Mr. Shettima's enemies to discredit him. Now that he is vying for a higher office, they reposted the photos and sent out false information about it that he was rather supporting the deadly activities of Boko Haram.

It took the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) whose investigation revealed that the photo was taken in 2017, and with a Fulani family, not Boko Haram militants. He was helping the poor, instead of helping the murderers.

Moral Lessons

My native Goka people say: sɛ wotamfo ɔɔsua wo kasa a ɔbobɔ nehwene. (Your enemy learns to speak your words only when he snorts).

Your goodness can be twisted into evil by your opponents. But the God we serve will always be the judge of - good and evil.