Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria’s path to lasting peace and development depends on leaders who place justice, unity and public welfare above personal power.
He spoke in Lafia during the 70th birthday and valedictory celebration of the 16th Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad I, describing the monarch as a rare national figure defined by integrity, scholarship and service.
“Where there are leaders who heal rather than divide, who build rather than burn, and who serve rather than seize, the greatness of this nation ceases to be an aspiration and becomes a destiny we author with our own hands,” Shettima said.
He praised the emir’s journey from the Supreme Court to the throne, saying he brought judicial discipline to traditional rule, and commended his role as Chairman of the Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs in strengthening harmony across a diverse state.
Shettima also commended Governor Abdullahi Sule for fostering stability and tolerance. Sule described the emir as humble and content, while Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum wished him long life. The emir explained that a hall was named after the vice president due to historical ties between the Borno and Lafia emirates. Shettima later inaugurated the Maimatasa-Gemeri-Federal University road and the Kashim Shettima Road in Lafia.
