Analyst Links Tinubu-Shettima Alliance to Shared Ancestry in Kanem-Borno Empire

Public Affairs Analyst Majeed Dahiru has offered a fresh perspective on the partnership between President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, suggesting that their bond extends beyond politics and religion, reaching deep into shared history.

Speaking in an interview with The Podcast Network, Dahiru revisited the controversy over the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket during the 2023 elections. He argued that the connection between Tinubu and Shettima is strengthened by ancestral ties that trace back to the ancient Kanem-Borno Empire.

According to him, the patriarch of the Tinubu family, Mallam Momodu Bàgarà, migrated centuries ago from Borno to Lagos, where he married the famous Madame Tinubu, a legendary trader and political influencer in Yoruba history. Although she had no children for him, Mallam Momodu married other wives, and their descendants carried on the Tinubu name that endures in Lagos today.

By highlighting this link, Dahiru suggested that the Tinubu-Shettima ticket symbolically ties Lagos and Borno together, representing not just a political alliance but also a shared cultural and ancestral heritage.

“If you know the history of the Tinubu family of Lagos, you would agree with me that it’s not only a Muslim-Muslim ticket. It’s also a Borno ticket, a Kanuri-Kanuri ticket, because the patriarch of the Tinubu family is actually Mallam Momodu Bàgarà from the old Kanem-Borno Empire,” Dahiru said.

He emphasized that this historical connection reframes the 2023 presidential pairing as more than a religious strategy, but rather a symbolic reunion of heritage and legacy.