TheCable

Kashim Shettima, governor of Borno state, says Kashim Shettima, says he will be returning to Maiduguri–Gamboru road for campaign next week, and he is ready to pay the supreme price if need be.

Three persons, including a soldier, were killed when Boko Haram insurgents opened fire on his convoy in the area last week.

But Shettima said the incident would not scare him away from the area. The governor added that this time around, he would go there without bulletproof cars.

He spoke with state house correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.

“When you juxtapose the sorry state of the north-east four years ago and what it is now, you will admit there has been great change in our fortune security wise,”he said.

“The threats and challenges are still there but when you put it in proper perspective, I think the president deserves commendation not condemnation.

“Be that as it may, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. I am the chief security officer of the state, I should have the courage and believe me not that I am not petrified, no! John McCain says ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act in spite of it.’ As the chief security officer of the state, the day I say I cannot go to a certain part of the state because of the insecurity, then what sort of confidence are you inspiring in the common man?

“The Boko Haram bask in the oxygen of publicity, by attacking my convoy, by targeting my person, they have gotten the much needed boost. But then as they say if you cannot with stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Leadership requires courage. I will go back to Gamboru Ngala next week and ready to pay the supreme price if need be. I will not be going in a bullet proof car. I will go in a normal car like any other members of my convoy and expose myself to all the risk that they are bearing for me to be protected.

“But believe me, no matter how long the night is, darkness must give away to the light of the dawn, no matter how stormy the weather may well be, it won’t rain forever. This madness will come to an end because it is a fight between light and darkness.”