‘If my brother wasn’t Borno gov, he’d be a tech wiz’
Usman Shettima, also called Baana, is a younger brother of Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State. The political scientist spoke to us on his famous sibling, on their relationship, their similar-sounding voices, and more. Excerpts:
Daily Trust: How many are you, born of the same parents? Usman Shettima: We were eleven, but we lost two. We’re now four males and five females, with the governor somewhere at the middle. He is my immediate elder brother of same parents, older than me by three years. I am 48, and he is 51.
DT: How many are you, born of the same parents?
Shettima: With apologies, it is against the policy of our family to differentiate ourselves. Our parents are late; we only have each other. We are one family, and that is how we have always been.
DT: Your voice sounds uncannily like the governor’s. Has this ever been the source of any drama?
Shettima: I’m not sure our voices are very similar, but actually, there are many times when some aides have mistaken me for him when I visit his residence. This usually happens when political appointees and aides are waiting for him to come out, to either go to inspect projects or go to the office. I’ve even seen some of them speeding up protocol thinking he is the one coming out. When I noticed that, I avoided talking loudly when there; When going out, I also use the back door. There are, however, days I feel like teasing them, and I raise my voice a bit, and they scramble not knowing it’s just me (laughter).
DT: How was Governor Shettima like as a younger man?
Shettima: My nephew, Amir, is a slim young man, and a replica of his father when he was in secondary school. He was slim, way back then, when he was slim. His frame actually became bigger after his university days.
In secondary school, he was slim to the extent that bullies even tried him, but he stood up to them. He attended two secondary schools, starting at Government Community Secondary School in Biu, in Southern Borno State, before he moved to Government Science Secondary school, Potiskum, now in Yobe State.
I can’t say in which of the schools the bullies were the most, but from what I know when we shared family stories, what saved him was his extremely beautiful handwriting. He has the most beautiful handwriting. So, when he was in secondary school, one of the tactics he adopted was to help senior students to copy their notes. You know, in most secondary schools, the worst bullies are the most unserious students, and they miss classes. Somehow they discovered his handwriting, and they began to ask him to copy notes for them. They would get the notes of serious classmates, and then ask him to copy into new exercise books. He started from one senior and at a point, he had a long line of notebooks waiting to be filled. At that time, when we felt sorry for him anytime he talked about it, he reminded us that it helped him have a good understanding of subjects in senior class, since he read the notes while copying them. DT: Does he still write like he did?
Shettima: His handwriting has become more beautiful. Whenever you see him, request him to write his email for you on your card.
DT: If not banking, or politics, what other field do you think he would’ve excelled in?
Shettima: I think he would’ve been a technological wizard. He’s addicted to technology, and he believes so much in it as capable of changing the world. Whenever he travels, two personal things he worries about are books and digital stuff. He has been into tech since his days in the banking sector. Left to him, he would prefer to run the his office digitally!
My brother even prefers e-books, and he is comfortable with Skype meetings, which he sets up by himself. He can’t go a moment without internet, too. He is so in-tune with technology, that he seems to have abandoned his library of hard copy book, preferring instead e-books. This is a man who has a reading habit he’s maintained for over 35 years.
DT: Tell us more about his reading habit...
Shettima: Since we were teenagers, if I am right, while I was around 12 and he was 15, my brother developed a culture of reading books for two or three hours every night, and early mornings. He has maintained that till today. He reads between 11pm to 1am or between 6am to 8am every day, and he reads very fast. He has always wanted to know something about great leaders, every major country of the world, global economies and different tribes in Nigeria, and Africa. He has encyclopaedic knowledge, I tell you.
DT: Does he still read voraciously, given the security situation in Borno State?
Shettima: I once asked him the same question in 2013, or so. I asked whether he was still able to read, and he said every situation only calls for the kind of book you need to read. He said since he became governor in 2011, his readings shifted to crisis management, history of the Taliban, insurgency, sociology of conflicts, postconflict rebuilding, and so on. He said whatever situation you find yourself, you can find a book that can help make the situation better.
In secondary school, he was slim to the extent that bullies even tried him, but he stood up to them