Shettima back in Nigeria after Saudi Arabia, UAE trips

Vice President Kashim Shettima has returned to Abuja after completing the lesser pilgrimage (Umrah) at the Holy Mosque of Makkah (Masjid al-Haram) in Saudi Arabia.

This was disclosed in a statement released on Friday by Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications.

The statement, titled ‘Shettima Returns to Abuja After Umrah in Saudi Arabia’, highlighted that the Vice President offered prayers for Nigeria’s peace and stability during his time at the sacred site. “Our prayer is for peace to prevail in our land. May Allah grant our land peace and social harmony,” Shettima was quoted as saying.

In addition to prayers for peace, the Vice President sought divine guidance for the leadership of Nigeria across all levels, from the federal to the local government.

Before embarking on his spiritual journey, Shettima represented President Bola Tinubu at the inauguration of a $315 million oil production and storage facility owned by Oriental Energy Limited in Dubai, UAE.

So far, Shettima has spent 61 days abroad, undertaking 12 trips to various countries and logging over 200 hours of flight time. His international engagements have taken him to Rome, Italy; St. Petersburg, Russia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Havana, Cuba; Beijing, China; Iowa and New York in the United States; Davos, Switzerland; Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast (twice); Nairobi, Kenya; and Stockholm, Sweden.