He is popularly called Mutawalli Borno. That is the story of northern powerful politician, Alhaji Kashim Imam who wields enormous power in the north especially his home state, Borno. He is very powerful and rolls within the corridors of power. Highly influential is this powerful broker that he has friends in many geopolitical zones in the country. He is an ally of president Elect, Asiwaju Tinubu and many has poached that he might also be one of the powerful brokers in President Elect, Asiwaju Tinubu’s cabinet. He is the chairman of one of the biggest consulting firm in Nigeria, Alpha Beta Consulting,( LLP) and Doherty as the Managing Director.
Very sound with a rich pedigree, Kashim Imam is well educated and plays strategic politics because he came from a political family. His father was a great politician in his lifetime who was well respected in Borno. He was the Presidential Liason Officer (PLO) to the Senate during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. He spent fifteen years learning the ropes in politics notwithstanding the fact that his was a political family. The former banker holds degrees in political science and international economic relations from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and University of Maiduguri. Kashim Imam has been an associate and business partner of Tinubu for about 30 years starting from their days in the Social Democratic Party during the 3rd Republic.
Even when they were in different political parties between 1999 and 2007, they remained close. Imam was appointed Chairman of Alpha Beta Consulting, a firm which has exclusive rights to generate taxes on behalf of the Lagos State government.
The consulting firm specialise in providing professional and independent Advice and support in Information and Financial systems. Their commitment is to add value, build business advantages and engineer business change to their customers through the implementation of effective customer driven application of leading-edge IT solutions and new business methods.
Kashim Imam is not a strange name in the Nigerian political space. Born into the political family of the late Kashim Ibrahim, former Secretary of the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), Member of the erstwhile Northern House of Assembly, and later, the impetus behind the defunct Borno Youth Movement, a progressive and revolutionary force at the time, Imam has himself evolved into a big political masquerade in his own rights.
Passing through the prestigious Kings College, Lagos, when men were men, he bagged a degree in Political Science from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and another degree in International Economic Relations from the University of Maiduguri before venturing into the banking industry where he carved a niche for himself. A businessman, he has his hands in various sectors of the Nigerian economy. He emerged the Chairman of the Borno State chapter of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) during General Ibrahim Babangida’s inconclusive transition programme. He was a staunch member of the Abiola Campaign Movement, Hope ’93, as it was popularly called. This was the beginning of his robust relationship with Asiwaju Tinubu who is also one of the faithfuls of Hope At the eventual birth of democracy in 1999, He was appointed the Presidential Liaison Officer to the Senate under the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo Presidency.
However, like all progressives and revolutionaries, Imam has also had to deal with many political challenges. Be it the design of fate, be it the fear of allowing a no-nonsense progressive like him to assume power, and be it a combination of both, one thing is sure: if intellect, competence, and popularity alone were all that matter in life and politics, the man Kashim Imam would have since completed his two-year tenure as Governor of Borno State. He could also have become the National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress. But life is not a straight journey.
Kashim Ibrahim-Imam was born 8 May 1962, he was twice the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Governor of Borno State in 2003 and 2007, losing both times to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate Ali Modu Sheriff.
After his tertiary education, he then entered the banking industry. He was given the title of “Mutawalli Borno”, a senior councillor to the Shehu (traditional ruler) of Borno which means a finance minister or treasurer.He was a childhood friend and business partner of his political opponent in Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff.
During the short-lived Nigerian Third Republic Ibrahim-Imam was Borno State Chairman of the Social Democratic Party(SDP).He was removed from this position by Maina Maaji Lawan, the Borno State Governor at that time.Imam was a member of Hope 93, the political group at the forefront of the MKO Abiola campaign in the 1993 elections.
In the February 2003 PDP primaries for Borno State Governorship candidate, Ibrahim-Imam was said to be competing in part to prevent Lawan becoming governor again.He easily beat four other contestants to represent the PDP in the gubernatorial elections, gaining 177 of the 185 votes cast.In the April elections, Ali Modu Sheriff of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) gained 581,880 votes, Kashim came second with 341,537 votes for the PDP and the incumbent Governor Mala Kachalla, who had moved from the ANPP to compete on the Alliance for Democracy (AD) ticket, gained 336,165 votes.
Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam also got an appointment as the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) from President Buhari and he was well celebrated by Tinubu. He is also the Chairman at First Guarantee Pension Ltd amongst others.
-TAYO OYEDIJI
(08111811219)
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