Shettima Breaks Silence On Tinubu’s Fall On Democracy Day

Vice President Kashim Shettima has criticized Nigerians who used the media to ridicule President Bola Tinubu after his ‘fall’ during the celebration of Democracy Day on June 12.

Naija News recalls that the Nigerian leader stumbled when he tried to climb onto the back of a military vehicle at Eagles Square for the Democracy Day event.

Tinubu lost his balance and fell while trying to get onto a military land rover that was supposed to take him to see a guard of honour set up by the Guards brigade, led by their Commander.

This event caused a lot of buzz in the media, with many Nigerians creating funny caricatures of Tinubu, and others joking about the situation and mocking the President.

Expressing his disappointment with the negative depiction of the Nigerian leader during his speech at a PEBEC Town Hall Meeting at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Shettima deviated from his prepared speech and criticized those who created the caricature of the President.

He said: “When the Presidents stumbled in the June 12 celebration. It is not only disheartening and disenchanting, but stultifying and heartbreaking that some of our countrymen were celebrating.

“But dare to put it to you that the hallmark of true leadership is not the ability to lift a bag of cement, but the capacity to come up with robust ideas to solve a nation’s problems.

“We have never had it so good in terms of leadership. President Tinubu means well for the nation. And most importantly, he is inbuilt with the skills set to drive change and in this country.”

Vice President Shettima noted that “One of the greatest presidents of the United States was FDR. FDR, with all his health challenges, was able to shepherd the American economy during the Great Depression and the Second World War, and because of the quality of his ideas, America became a superpower.”

He also hinted at the incident that left Mua Kibaki in a wheelchair, mentioning that the negative event did not limit his (Kibaki’s) capabilities to devise strong strategies that led Kenya to achieve double-digit growth under his leadership.

“I can tell you, with all sense of confidence, that the president we have now is a man of ideas, who is robustly imbued with the capacity,” the Vice President said.