Our government has no Islamisation agenda - Shettima assures Nigerians

The Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima, has reassured Nigerians that he and the incoming President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have no desire to Islamise Nigeria as being speculated in some quarters.

Shettima, A Muslim Kanuri from Borno State, northern Nigeria, was picked by Tinubu, another Muslim from the southern part of the country, as his running mate in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election, leading to suspicions that the ruling party might be harbouring a plan to coerce the citizens to adopt Islam.

This concern was shared by different groups and individuals in the country, especially leaders of the Christian faith who vehemently rejected the idea of a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

But speaking at a lecture forming part of the events lined up for Tinubu's inauguration on May 29, the incoming Vice President calmed all the worrying minds as he insisted that there was no agenda to Islamise Africa’s most populous nation.

He described his principal as a fair and just person who never attempted to force anyone to join his faith.

Shettima said, “I was a child of necessity, there is no Islamisation agenda. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a Muslim who is married to a Christian, not only a Christian but a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

“Someone who has not Islamised his family, people are alluding that he has the intention to Islamise the nation.”

The Vice President-elect disclosed that he deliberately chose a man of Igbo extraction and Catholic faithful to be his Chief Security Officer, while his Aide De Camp (ADC), a Northerner, was selected to foster togetherness and inclusivity.

He said, “Politics is about perception. As we begin the formation of a new administration, I deliberately picked an Igbo man, a Catholic, to be my Chief Security Officer,” he stated.

“For the purpose of inclusivity and togetherness, again I deliberately picked a Northern Christian to be my ADC. So the so-called founder of Boko Haram is going to be protected by…”