They told Tinubu I wanted him dead – Shettima speaks out

By: Abudu Olalekan

Politics in Nigeria? It’s not just about power. It’s about whispers. Shadows. Stories that start somewhere and end up meaning something completely different.

And Vice President Kashim Shettima just dropped one of those stories — raw, real, and a little wild.

He said it straight: They told Tinubu I wanted him dead.

Not metaphorically. Not politically. Literally. As in — you gave him clothes to charm him. He’ll wear them… and drop dead. Then you take over.

Crazy? Yeah. But also, sadly believable in today’s climate.

It happened just months after Tinubu took office. A group from Borno — Shettima’s home state — went to the President. Told him to stop wearing the traditional attire Shettima had given him during the campaign trail. Said it was cursed. That it was meant to kill him.

Can you imagine?

Tinubu didn’t flinch. In fact, he did the opposite. Wore the outfit — every single day — for a full week. On purpose. Just to show: I don’t buy this nonsense.

Shettima shared all this at the launch of Gen. Yakubu Gowon’s autobiography in Abuja. “My Life of Duty and Allegiance.” Powerful title. Even more powerful moment.

He wasn’t just telling a story about himself. He was making a point — about how deep suspicion has cut into our national fabric.

Remember when Gowon was in Dodan Barracks? The Sultan of Sokoto’s family used to send him gallons of fura every week. No questions asked. No fear. Just trust. A northern gesture, accepted with grace by a southern leader.

Now? We’re scared of gifts. Of clothes. Of food. Of each other.

Shettima called it out: “Suspicion smears our relationships. And it ought not to be.”

Back to the clothes. He explained — during the 2023 campaign, he got the Borno outfit for Tinubu so he’d blend in up north. Worked, too. People loved it. Tinubu wore it again and again. Became part of his image.

Then came October 2023. Shettima returns from China — had just represented the President at the Belt and Road Forum. Big deal. First major foreign assignment as VP.

First thing Tinubu says when he walks in?
“Sit down.”

Then he tells him: Your people came to me. Said I should stop wearing those dresses. Said I’ve been charmed. That I’m going to die. And you’ll become president.

Silence, probably. Then disbelief.

But Tinubu saw through it. Said: “When you gave me these, I wasn’t even the candidate. You weren’t either.”
Logic. Simple. Unshakable.

So he wore the damn clothes for seven days straight. A statement. A rebuke.

“These are the gimmicks now,” Shettima said. “This is what passes for politics.”

And then he pivoted — to Gowon. To unity. To memory.

Called him “the last man standing” from that generation of leaders. Spoke on NYSC, ECOWAS, nation-building. Said Gowon’s life was proof that leadership can rise above tribe, above fear.

Quoted Martin Luther King Jr. at the end:
“Let us learn to live together as brothers — or perish together as fools.”

Heavy words.

He looked at Plateau State Governor Mutfwang, sitting there, and reminded everyone: the people killing each other on the Plateau? They share language. Blood. History. Yet we let violence rewrite the truth.

The book — Gowon’s memoir — Shettima called it “a bottom of memory.” Not perfect grammar. But perfect feeling. Like we’re running low on remembrance. That we forget too fast.

Some leaders fade when they leave office. Others? Their presence grows.

Gowon, he said, is one of those.