Machina Emirate celebrates Dr Kole Shettima, By Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim

This weekend, the Emir of Machina, Alhaji Dr Bashir Albishir Bukar Machinama turbaned Dr. Kole Shettima as the Zanna Yuroma of the Emirate. This exalted position is only given to people with sufficient depth, maturity, sincerity and tact to talk truth to power. The onerous duty of the new Yuroma, therefore, includes warning the Emir if he engages on the wrong path. Dr. Shettima clearly has the qualifications to play such an important and delicate role and I wish him success in executing his role to the glory of Machina, Yobe and Nigeria.

The turbanning was the crowning event in an annual weeklong cultural festival, which has developed into a major unifying platform that brings together people with shared history and heritage, thereby fostering mutual understanding and harmony. Machina is an ancient 900-year-old Kingdom at the centre of the Millennial Kanem-Borno Empire. It was incredible to see over forty Emirs from a radius of 2000 kilometres turn up for the event. As Machina is just seven kilometres from the Niger border, there was a huge delegation from that country with Emirs from Diffa, Agadez, Air and Bilma attending. There were also delegations from Chad, Cameroon and the Benin Republics in addition to delegations from Nigeria.

As Gov. Mai Mala Buni of Yobe stated at the occasion, cultural festivals play an important role in strengthening unity, inspiring youth responsibility and preserving community values. Activities at the cultural festival included traditional wrestling, langa, horse-riding and durbar. The Emir had initiated the festival after he was nominated by the State Government to represent Yobe at the national cultural festival organised in Abuja by President Olusegun Obasanjo at the beginning of the Fourth Republic.

Dr Kole Shettima is deserving of the honour because he has been a very thoughtful, kind, generous and warm friend to the large circle of people he interacts with. In addition, throughout his life, he has retained a strong commitment to progressive change throughout the country. At each point, his key concern is always – what can we do to improve the situation? His next step is always how can we generate the resources to make the change happen? It is therefore not surprising that he has accumulated numerous accomplishments since he took over the leadership of the McArthur Foundation 26 years ago. Under his guidance, the portfolio of the Foundation expanded considerably and its impact multiplied. New programmes, leading to improvements in everyday lives through the work of grantees in higher education and Girls’ Secondary Education, emerged. 

He was able to build on the foundation of the great work of MacArthur in Nigeria, laid by its first Director, Professor Bolanle Awe. Her work produced great advancement in maternal and child health. In fact, the Foundation was a significant contributor to the success of the midwifery scheme that reduced maternal mortality in Nigeria from 1,000 for 100,000 live births to 400, a global success story that evolved from the work on advancements in the Population and Reproductive Health programme.

Under Dr Shettima’s guidance, the Foundation initiated new programmes, leading to improvements in everyday lives through the work of grantees in higher education and girls’ secondary education, emerged. They also opened up to the protection and promotion of the rights of citizens through their human rights and international justice work. Dr Shettima’s people skills – personal effectiveness, interaction skills and intercession skills with his professional approach to philanthropy – enabled him to expand the Foundation’s work in civil society, but also extend it to government agencies, the media and technology hubs, universities, citizen groups, and professionals.

The Foundation focused on promoting the better delivery of public services through support for anti-corruption work, in the belief that progress in this domain is possible. Since then, it has successfully contributed to the emergence of a more robust and resilient accountability ecosystem, in which a diverse set of civil society organisations, community groups, and government officials, especially at the state and local levels, work together to pursue integrity.

MacArthur made its Big Bet on Nigeria in 2015, when it significantly expanded its support. The organisation focused on promoting the better delivery of public services through support for anti-corruption work, in the belief that progress in this domain is possible. Since then, it has successfully contributed to the emergence of a more robust and resilient accountability ecosystem, in which a diverse set of civil society organisations, community groups, and government officials, especially at the state and local levels, work together to pursue integrity. The result has been that:

All states throughout Nigeria have passed the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, and our criminal justice grantees are working to support and enhance the implementation of the ACJA and ACJL to strengthen the “teeth” of Nigeria’s accountability ecosystem.

Their Media and Journalism grantees have developed a significant presence in the Nigerian media landscape, with each contributing a substantial amount of corruption-related reporting and investigative journalism. The quantity of corruption-related reporting in the news has grown considerably since 2016, and the quality is on the rise, as well, among media organisations in the country.

Many of these reports have prompted government action, especially at the state and local levels, on issues such as potential financial crimes, public services corruption, and voter registration fraud.

The Foundation’s work has created an atmosphere in which in today’s Nigeria, citizens are more willing to report cases of corruption and refuse bribes. According to the 3rd National Corruption Survey of Nigerians from the National Bureau of Statistics and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 70 percent of Nigerians who were asked to pay a bribe in 2023 refused to do so on at least one occasion.

Dr Kole Shettima’s personal commitment to gender equity has led to a significant increase in the provision of support for women in leadership positions, training opportunities, and the expansion of material support in entrepreneurial work in the informal sector, universities and civil society. His ideological vision of the necessity for promoting a just, verdant, and peaceful world makes him a genuine progressive, not just in words but more crucially, in deeds.

I thank His Highness, the Emir of Machina, Alhaji Dr Bashir Albishir Bukar Machinama, for honouring our friend, Dr. Kole Shettima, as the Zanna Yuroma of the Emirate, and I congratulate him on the success of the festival. Kole, Allah ya taya ka riko.