By TUNDE RAHMAN

Long before President Bola Tinubu decided on Vice President Kashim Shettima, who turned 59 last week, as his running mate in the last presidential election, both of them had first collaborated across boundaries and different political parties several years ago to the present, when they are working together at the helm of Nigerian affairs. President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima continue to march on in harmony and deep partnership. Their relationship is borne of mutual respect and trust and fired by patriotic zeal and the need to promote democracy, good governance, and economic development. That bond has continued to wax stronger.

I do not feign any knowledge regarding the exact time the two leaders encountered each other. It’s on record, however, that both worked together, alongside other like minds, to merge the legacy parties that eventually formed the APC in 2014. Indeed, the torchbearers of the merger were President Tinubu – leading the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria from the South-west – and the late President Muhammadu Buhari, who led the Congress for Progressive Change from the North-West. However, Vice President Shettima of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party and other party leaders, among others, also played an important role in the consummation of the merger that brought together progressive forces from across Nigeria’s North and South.

By the time of that historic event, the relationship between Shettima and his political leader and former governor of the state, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff (SAS), had gone frosty. Although up until that point, SAS dominated the ANPP structure in Borno State almost to the total exclusion of then Governor Shettima, a battle line was being drawn between supporters of the Godfather and the Governor. The merger therefore emerged like a rescue avenue for Shettima, and Asiwaju supported him greatly to successfully wrest the party structure and assume full leadership.

Asiwaju also came to his support when the Chibok girls were abducted, and the Goodluck Jonathan government saw Shettima like a villain. Shettima had to take his story and efforts to rescue the abducted girls to the international community. Asiwaju helped in all of that and also facilitated his quick return to Maiduguri. Many will recall that celebrated interview Shettima granted CNN’s Christian Amanpour at the time.

As governor of Borno State, Shettima’s admiration for Asiwaju Tinubu and his politics was well known. He would often invite him to inaugurate some legacy projects of his administration, even while they were in different parties. On one such occasion, Asiwaju arrived in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, along with his entourage, in the heat of the Boko Haram insurgency. He spent two days in that city, inaugurating the Doctors’ Quarters, which were built by Shettima and named after Tinubu, among other projects.

With that visit, it was evident that both leaders had become political soul mates – akin to a political father and son.

In the run-up to the 2023 election, Shettima pitched his tent with Asiwaju Tinubu. He rooted for Tinubu during the APC primaries and criss-crossed the country with him while the campaign lasted. Given his competence, leadership experience, dynamism, and loyalty, it was no surprise that Asiwaju picked him as his running mate. Indeed, it is an affirmation of his competence and good qualities that the committee set up by Asiwaju to recommend a suitable running mate for him had Shettima at the top of its list. Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and former ally of President Tinubu, Babachir David Lawal, headed that committee. Importantly, Shettima’s choice was reportedly blessed by the late President Buhari.

In the end, the APC won the election. Asiwaju and Shettima were inaugurated as president and vice president.

After more than two years in the saddle, they are moving on, united by a shared vision to engender a strong economy, deliver prosperity, and improve the living standards of Nigerians based on the Renewed Hope Agenda.

This relationship has not been without its challenges. However, the union has continued to weather the storms.

It Is always the case in a political environment that power mongers and schemers will seek to throw spanners in the work to upset political relationships or any union, for that matter.

Indeed, relationships between a principal and deputy, like that between governors and their deputies or presidents and vice presidents, can be very testy, as suspicion and mistrust can sometimes creep in.

Deputies are endangered species. Like Caesar’s wife, they must be above board at all times, politically correct, and ensure they do not swim against the tide.

Writing in “Deputising and Governance in Nigeria,” former deputy governor and later two-term governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, contends that “the role of a vice president in government depends largely on his relationship with his boss, and could be expanded to make him influential, if positive and collaborative.”

According to the constitution, the vice president chairs the National Economic Council. However, the vice president has no special powers except those delegated to him by the President, which Is entirely at the President’s discretion.

The marriage between President Tinubu and VP Shettima is strong and vibrant. There is no doubt that Shettima has demonstrated absolute loyalty to President Tinubu. He has shown he is a worthy partner who believes that both of them must work together for the good of the country they both love.

If anyone doubted the bond between them, President Tinubu cleared the doubts in his 59th birthday message to Shettima on September 2, 2025. VP Shettima also responded with matching words of gratitude.

In the stirring message, the President said, among others, “Every day as vice president, you have justified that choice by strengthening our work, bringing fresh perspectives, and upholding our commitment to Nigerians. Your dedication reassures me that I did not make a mistake in choosing you as my deputy.”

Responding, the vice president promised not to take his bond with President Tinubu for granted. In a message of gratitude on the birthday, the Vice President said: ”The bond we share, anchored in loyalty and service, is one I will never take for granted. I have watched you shoulder the burden of difficult choices at critical moments, steering our nation through turbulent waters into a harbour of stability that promises abundance.”

The opposition politicians and top political office aspirants have important lessons to learn from this harmony, mutual trust and tolerance, which is at variance with what obtained in the early part of the Fourth Republic.

Though frosty relationships between governors and their deputies have been recurring since 1999, former President Obasanjo and his deputy, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, took the matter to a frightening level. They engaged in a war of attrition.

Atiku tried to undercut and oust his principal from office because of his presidential ambition. Both of them dragged each other in the mud, almost literally, leading to tensions in governance and a protracted crisis. The country’s renewed democratic experiment was severely tested. It was an ugly situation many would rather not be reminded of. The nation was on the edge, with fault lines being dangerously toyed with. It was indeed a dark moment in our political history! But that is no longer the story as Tinubu and Shettima are handling their relationship with maturity.

On this occasion of his 59th birthday, I commend Vice President Shettima for his loyalty to the President and his commitment to nation-building. I wish him many more years and continued life of impact. Happy birthday, Sir.

•Rahman is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Special Duties.