By Mathew Dadiya
In fulfillment of an earlier commitment to hit the ground running, the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, Tuesday resumed work at the Presidential Villa, interacting with the Permanent Secretary, State House, Mr Tijanni Umar, some management staff of the Office of the Vice President and State House Correspondents.
The Vice President was accompanied to the Office by his personal aides where he met with the Permanent Secretary and senior civil servants in the Office of Vice President.
Speaking to State House Correspondents inside his office, the Shettima talked about expectations in the coming days, noting that “power to me is a humbling experience; it is all about how we can make life better for the common man.”
“I want to assure our countrymen that President Bola Tinubu will by the grace of God catapult this nation to a higher pedestal. He is determined, he has the skills set, the temperament, the disposition and the purity of mind and commitment to give service to this nation,” he added.
The Vice President further stressed that “the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is poised to redefine the meaning and concept of modern governance,” assuring Nigerians that “he (President Tinubu) is going to provide the leadership and we will rally round him. Give him our unequivocal support and loyalty to see to the realization of the Nigerian dream.”
He also reassured that “our President is a man of strong will and in the fullness of time we will appreciate his humble intentions for this country. The issue of fuel subsidy will be frontally addressed, the earlier we do so, the better. The issue of multiple exchange rates, we need to collapse them into one.”
“These are two big elephants in the room, and in the days and weeks to come, the President is going to unveil his agenda.
“As I have always said, there can never be two captains on a ship, he is the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I am his VP, my relevance is directly proportional to my level of loyalty to my principal”, he added.
Speaking on his relationship with President Tinubu, he said “this is a gentleman that I have known for over a decade and I have closely interacted with, be rest assured that we are going to work harmoniously as a team, as a family for the greater good of our nation,” the VP added.
Shettima was sworn-in on Monday, May 29, as Nigeria’s number two citizen at a historic ceremony attended by leaders across Africa and beyond, marking the beginning of a new journey tagged “renewed hope”.
