Of Caps, Marabouts and Politics of Envy, by Hassan Gimba
The Arbiter
While being interviewed on the Mic On Podcast, hosted by Channel Television’s Seun Okinbaloye on Friday, September 5, 2026, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, erstwhile vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, openly alleged that Vice President Kashim Shettima does not wear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s signature cap, bearing the infinity sign, because “maybe his marabout said he shouldn’t wear it.”
Datti Baba-Ahmed has gradually earned a reputation for making all manner of unfounded claims once he is before a mic and camera. And he’s not your regular loudmouth, the sort that earns a living for badmouthing whoever is on the other side of their paymaster.
Datti founded Baze University in 2011 as an independent private institution and serves as its Chancellor and Chairman of its Board of Trustees. He has also established Baba-Ahmed University in Kano.
His political career began in 2003, when he represented the Zaria Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. He was elected to the Senate, representing Kaduna North Senatorial District, in April 2011 under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). However, his time in the Senate was short-lived, as an electoral tribunal nullified his election in 2012.
Kashim Shettima, on the other hand, entered politics in 2007 after a banking career. He later served as a commissioner in Borno State, a two-term governor, a senator in the 9th National Assembly, and eventually Vice President in 2023.
Shettima resigned as General Manager of Zenith Bank in 2007 to join public service. In mid-2007, then Governor Ali Modu Sheriff appointed him Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development in Borno State. He subsequently served as commissioner in five different ministries, including Finance and Economic Development, Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, Education, Agriculture, and Health between 2007 and 2011, gaining substantial governance experience across several sectors.
He was elected governor of Borno State in 2011 and served two terms until 2019, when he contested and won the Senate seat for Borno Central Senatorial District. On July 10, 2022, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, then the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, nominated him as his running mate ahead of the 2023 general election, which they won.
Let us also consider their backgrounds.
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Datti was born on July 7, 1969, to an elite family, and has four degrees in economics and business: a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Economics and a Master of Science (MSc) in Economics from the University of Maiduguri; a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales, Cardiff; and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Economics/Business from the University of Westminster, completed in 2006.
Shettima, whose father was a struggling primary school Arabic teacher, was born on September 2, 1966, and holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Agricultural Economics from the University of Maiduguri and a Master of Science (MSc) in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan, which he obtained in 1991.
This is not the first time Datti, the son of an influential Arab cattle trader and judge, has made uncomplimentary remarks about Shettima, the Kanuri Arabic teacher’s son.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time on Thursday, July 3, 2025, Datti claimed: “What I know about Shettima cannot be uttered on a National TV.” He also remarked that President Bola Tinubu “has tried to keep Shettima this long,” suggesting that whoever knew what Shettima “did and does” would not allow him to remain in office for long.
He provided no specific evidence for those claims then, just as he has provided none now for his allegation about the supposed “advice” from a marabout. Perhaps, in the first instance, he had “court-proof” evidence; and in the latest allegation, maybe he was present when the marabout gave the alleged instruction.
But dressing is a matter of choice, while loyalty is a matter of the mind and heart.
Consider Mahatma Gandhi. Some of his closest political associates never dressed like him. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) were among his closest and most trusted political associates. Yet, each dressed in his own way, showing that loyalty did not depend on copying Gandhi’s dress.
Although they shared a commitment to wearing khadi—handspun and handwoven Indian cotton—as a symbol of the independence movement, none adopted Gandhi’s extreme minimalist attire: the iconic loincloth or short dhoti and bare torso. Gandhi himself made it clear in his writings that he did not expect or want his co-workers to copy his minimalist dress code; he did not accept that associates must leave their traditions and lives and be sycophantic to prove their loyalty.
Coming back home, how many of Shehu Shagari’s ministers wore their caps like his—long and un-contoured? Even Chief Alex Ekwueme, his vice president, did not adopt the President’s style, which shows that political loyalty did not require matching dress.
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Did Professor Yemi Osinbajo dress like Muhammadu Buhari, in an overflowing black jumper over a white shirt, with the bishop collar and sleeves showing? Seyi Tinubu, Nigeria’s “first son,” dresses in his own way.
So, this latest attack cannot really be about a mode of dressing or cap-wearing. It must be about something deeper—something the accuser either cannot or will not articulate.
Does Datti harbour some envy that his age-mate, from a less endowed background, who apparently entered politics after him and does not possess as many academic certificates, is now Vice President, while he has served only a short term in the Senate and was an unsuccessful vice-presidential candidate?
But even if that were the case, has he considered the immense executive and legislative experience Kashim Shettima has accumulated over the years?
I cannot fathom how a dress code translates into loyalty or competence. Politics, however, should not become an avenue for envy or for tarnishing the image of those we believe have zoomed ahead, leaving us chasing the wind.
It is also a sign of Shettima’s maturity that he has hardly taken notice of Datti’s broadsides, nor responded in kind, as some might have done.
Hassan Gimba, ANIPR, is the Publisher and CEO of Neptune Prime.