Were I in Hashim Shettima’s shoes I would have taken a leaf out of Winnie Mandela’s book and declined Tinubu’s nomination

Ayo Akinfe 

[1] Unfortunately for Nigeria, our leaders never make it a duty to study what goes on elsewhere or what has happened in the past. As a result, they constantly repeat the mistakes of others 

[2] Very little actually happens in life without precedence. Picking the wrong candidate for deputy is not a new thing and if Senator Kashim Shettima had studied the history of the African National Congress (ANC), he could have saved Nigeria the trauma Tinubu and the APC are about to put us through 

[3] In 1997, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was nominated for the deputy presidency of the ANC at its 50th congress in Mafikeng but she declined the nomination for the good of the party and the South African nation 

[4] Her precise words when she rejected the nomination were: “Those comrades who nominated me, I apologise for having to decline.” Jacob Zuma was thus elected unopposed and went to become deputy president and subsequently president of South Africa 

[5] Winnie’s patriotism deserves special credit because a victory for her would have sparked jitters at home and abroad, with whites and other minorities fearing she would seek revenge for apartheid abuses. Foreign investors too might have backed away because of her nationalism and calls for expensive programmes to help poor blacks

[6] Cheers rose from the floor of the ANC summit after Winnie’s withdrawal in what delegates later said was their show of appreciation that the party had avoided a divisive showdown over its most controversial figure. They appreciated the fact that politics is not just about occupying big offices and positions but about morality too 

[7] Ask yourselves that how come Winnie could see that a victory for her would divide South Africa but Senator Shettima cannot see that him accepting this Muslim-Muslim ticket will easily divide Nigerians along religious lines 

[8] Even if Bola Tinubu was misguided or blinded by the lust for power, surely the APC Muslim community could easily have disassociated themselves from his same-faith plans

[9] Just imagine if all of the APCs Muslim governors had issued a statement saying that come what may, they would never support a Muslim-Muslim ticket. It would have buried the same faith misadventure once and for all 

[10] Unfortunately, in Nigeria, the term fair play is totally meaningless. People do not believe is being fair and it is dog-eat-dog. Had we lived in a fair country, no northern Muslim would have accepted the offer to be Tinubu’s running mate