ATIKU ABUBAKAR: Atavistic Perspective of the Man

Named after his paternal grandfather, Atiku Abdulkadir, was born on the 25^th of November, 1946 to  Garba Abubakar, a Fulani trader and his second wife, Aisha Kande at Jada Village, somewhere in the then Gongola state (now Adamawa). He assumed the status of the only child in his family after his older sister died in infancy.

Education

Like most African parents then, Atiku’s father was opposed to Western education. Due to the fact that schooling was mandatory then, his father spent few days in jail and mother paid fine. He was eventually enrolled in the Jada Primary School at age eight. He went further and got admitted to the Adamawa Provincial Secondary School in Yola in the year 1960. As a result of his excellent performance academically, he graduated from secondary school with a Grade three WASC/GCE Certificate Examination in the year 1965.

After secondary school, Atiku studied briefly at the Nigeria Police College in Kaduna. However, he left the Police College when he was unable to present his O-Level mathematics result. Still unperturbed by the unfortunate circumstances surrounding him, he worked briefly as a Tax Officer in the Regional Ministry of Finance, from where he gained admission to School of Hygiene in Kano State in the year 1966. After completing the academic programme, he graduated with a diploma in 1967. Atiku served as an interim Student Union president. In that same year, he went for for a Law diploma at the Ahmadu Bello University on scholarship. Two years later, he graduated from the university and months later, he was employed by the Nigeria Customs Service.

Marriage and Family Life

Atiku Abubakar was secretly married to his first wife, Titilayo Albert, a nineteen-year old then. They secretly married possibly because the wife’s family was opposed to the union. In January 1979, he got married to Ladi Yakubu becoming his second wife. He asserted that the reason for which he married a second wife was to expand the Abubakar’s  since he was an only child. He took a third wife in person of Princess Rukaiyat in 1983. In 1986, he got married to his fouth wife, Fattimah Shettima. However, Atiku divorced Ladi Yakubu and got married Jennifer Iwenyora who later changed her name to Jamila Atiku-Abubakar. He once stated, “My wives are my sisters, my friends and my advisers and they complement one another.

ATIKU AS A POLITICIAN, BUSINESSMAN AND PHILANTROPIST.

Starting with his political career, Atiku's baptism into the political arena was in the 1980’s when he was more of a campaign manager to a governorship aspirant, Bamanga Tukur, who was the managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority. He was in the Nigeria Customs Service for twenty years, rising to be a Deputy Director in the agency. He retired in April 1989 and took up full time business and politics

He ran for the office of the governor in then Gongola State (now Adamawa and Taraba States) in the year 1991. Moreover, in 1993, he attempted to run for the presidency but placed third after MKO Abiola and Babaginda Kinigbe  during the Social Democratic Party primaries.

Eventually in 1998, Atiku won the governorship election in Adamawa state. However, before his swearing-in, he was selected by the PDP presidential candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo, as his running mate for the presidency. Eventually, the duo won the elections in February 27, 1999. Atiku was sworn-in as Nigeria’s second democratically elected Vice President.

However, in the course of his second term as Vice President, the relationship between him and then Priesident Olusegun Obasanjo became egregious because he didn’t receive the latter’s support. In 2007, it took a judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to allow Abubakar contest after he was initially disqualified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the conjecture that that he had been indicted for financial misconduct by an investigating panel set up at Obasanjo’s behest. On Supreme Court ordered the Electoral Commision to restore Atiku’s name into the presidential ballot. On December 20, 2006, Atiku was chosen as the presidential candidate of the Action Congress. After the election, Atiku took the third place behind PDP candidate, Umaru Musa Yar’adua and Mohammadu Buharia under the ANPP. In January 2011, he contested for the presidential ticket under PDP alongside Goodluck Jonathan and Sarah Jubril, but lost the primaries. On February 2, 2014, Atiku defected from the People’s Democratic Party to the All Progressive Congress. On December 11, 2014, he contested the presidential ticket of the APC but lost to Mohammadu Buhari who eventually emerged as the party’s flag bearer.

Business-wise, Atiku Abubakar is not an underdog. In 1974, he applied for and received 31,000 naira loan to build his first house in Yola which he put up for rent. From proceeds of the rent, he purchased another plot  and built a second house. This was how he continued till he owned many buildings which he uses for business. In 1981, he ventured into agriculture with the acquisition of 2500 hectres of lamd to start a maize and cotton farm. However the business was almost a disaapointed as what expected was different from the reality. So the agriculture business closed in 1986. His relevant business was when he was a Customs Officer at the Apapa Ports. Invited and introduced by Gabrielle Volpi, an Italian businessman, to set up Nigeria Container Services; a logistics company operating within the ports.

Atiku Abubakar’s business empire also includes a beverage manufacturing plant in Yola as well as an animal feed factory.

Going to his philosophies, Atiku Abubakar is a staunch advocate of true ‘federalism’. He has been delivering speeches both locally and internationally to galvanize the federal government in implementing a true structure of federalism where governmental power wud be truly decentralized and people in the creeks would feel the impact of the government because true federalism brings government closer to the people. He is quoted saying, ““Political decentralization will also help to deepen and strengthen our democracy as it will encourage more accountability. Citizens are more likely to demand accountability when governments spend their tax money rather than rent collected from an impersonal source.”

Written and edited by Okediya Peter O.

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