By Adegboyega Adeleye
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has asked Nigerians, friends and associates to shun birthday gifts, advertisements and elaborate celebrations as he marks his 60th birthday, urging them instead to channel the money to charities and people in need across the country.
Shettima made the appeal in a post on his official X handle on Tuesday, ahead of his birthday on Wednesday, September 2. The Vice-President, who was born on September 2, 1966, in Maiduguri, Borno State, said reaching 60 had strengthened his resolve to discourage material celebrations in his honour.
He said the milestone should be an opportunity for reflection and giving rather than accumulation, describing 60 as an age when a man should have “exchanged impulse for reflection, vanity for gratitude, and the desire to accumulate for the wisdom to give.”
“It is an age that asks fewer questions about what one has gathered and far more searching questions about what one has contributed,” Shettima said.
The Vice-President recalled that he had consistently asked his friends, supporters, well-wishers, associates and admirers not to spend money on birthday gifts or undertake ventures of material consequence in his honour.
“Over the years, I have been deeply humbled by the affection, prayers and goodwill that have accompanied my birthdays,” he said.
“Yet there is one appeal I have consistently made to my friends, supporters, well-wishers, associates and admirers, far and near: please do not spend a kobo on a gift for me, nor undertake any venture of material consequence in my honour.”
Shettima urged those who had planned to celebrate him to redirect the resources to charities, causes or individuals requiring assistance anywhere in Nigeria.
“I therefore appeal once again to everyone who wishes me well not to spend money marking my day but to channel whatever resources they may have intended for such gestures to a charity, cause or person of their choice anywhere in our country,” he said.
The vice-president said generosity should not be measured by the amount given, stressing that even small acts of kindness could provide hope to people in difficult circumstances.
“A nation is ennobled by the care it extends to those who need the strength of others. Our means may differ, but generosity is not measured only by the size of what we give,” he said.
“Sometimes the smallest kindness arrives at precisely the moment another person needs to be reminded that humanity has not forgotten them. For me, such an act is among the most eloquent prayers anyone can offer on my behalf.”
Reflecting on the people who had contributed to his journey, Shettima said no individual reaches a significant milestone entirely through personal effort.
“None of us arrives at sixty, or indeed at any meaningful station in life, entirely by our own strength,” he said, acknowledging the roles played by family, friends, teachers, colleagues, supporters, well-wishers and even strangers.
He added: “It is only fitting that we repay such debts in the currency in which they were incurred: by extending kindness to those who may never be in a position to repay us.”
Rather than birthday advertisements, gifts and celebrations, Shettima said his greatest request was for prayers for himself and Nigeria.
“What I ask for, in place of advertisements, gifts and celebrations, is prayer. Pray for me, and pray for Nigeria,” he said.
He specifically urged Nigerians to pray for peace in their communities, prosperity, wisdom for leaders and the fulfilment of the country’s potential.
“Pray for the peace of our communities, the prosperity of our people, the wisdom of our leaders and the fulfilment of the immense promise of this nation,” he said.
Shettima also highlighted Nigeria’s youthful population, cultural diversity, entrepreneurial spirit and capacity for communal solidarity as some of the country’s greatest strengths.
“Ours is a country blessed with an industrious people, an extraordinary instinct for enterprise, a generosity that travels easily across family and community, and a youthful population whose imagination, talent and ambition remain among our greatest national assets,” he said.
“Our diversity is a vast inheritance, our cultures are reservoirs of strength, and our capacity to find fellowship across difference is one of the enduring beauties of the Nigerian spirit.”
The vice-president thanked Nigerians for the loyalty, affection, friendship and prayers that had accompanied him throughout his public life, wishing them long life, good health and fulfilment.
Shettima, a former banker, served as governor of Borno State from 2011 to 2019 before representing Borno Central in the Senate from 2019 to 2023. He became vice-president in 2023 after being elected alongside President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
President Tinubu, in a birthday message ahead of Shettima’s 60th birthday, described him as a “trusted ally” and “patriot” whose public life has been defined by service, commitment and sacrifice.
Shettima had made a similar appeal in 2023, when he asked friends and political associates to refrain from placing birthday wishes in newspapers or using paid channels, urging them to donate to charity instead.
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