Atiku: Dogged fighter back in familiar turf

The emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has presented him another opportunity to have a shot at the Nigerian presidency – the exalted position that has evaded him in five previous attempts.  Atiku has made name among the prominent political figures in […]

The emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has presented him another opportunity to have a shot at the Nigerian presidency – the exalted position that has evaded him in five previous attempts. 

Atiku has made name among the prominent political figures in Nigeria and served as the country’s 11th Vice President from 1999 -2007 during the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo. The business tycoon, who was born on November 25 in 1946, is a retired officer of the Nigerian Customs Service. 

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Atiku has been a dogged fighter from childhood, being the only surviving child of his parents, having lost his sister at infancy. He was born at Jada in today’s Adamawa State to a Fulani trader and farmer, Garba Abubakar and Aisha Kande. 

He didn’t start formal education until he was eight because his father opposed western education. When the government discovered that Abubakar was not attending mandatory schooling, his father spent a few days in jail until Aisha Kande’s mother paid the fine. At a young age, Abubakar lost his father to a drowning accident in a neighbouring village in 1957. 

After completing his primary school education in 1960, he proceeded to Adamawa Provincial Secondary School in Yola where he excelled in English Language and Literature. 

Atiku worked for the Nigeria Customs Service for twenty years, rising to the position of Deputy Director, the second highest position in the Service before his retirement in April 1989. 

Upon retirement, he ventured into full-time business and politics. 

He started his business with a loan of N31,000, which he used to build his first house in Yola. He put the house for rent and from the proceeds of the rent, he built another house. He continued this way, building a sizable portfolio of property in Yola. He acquired 2,500 hectares of land near Yola to start a maize and cotton farm in 1981. 

He also ventured into trading, buying and selling truckloads of rice, flour and sugar but his most important business venture was when Gabrielle Volpi, an Italian businessman in Nigeria, invited him to set up Nigeria Container Services (NICOTES), a logistics company operating within the Ports. NICOTES would later go on to become Intels Nigeria Limited and provide immense wealth to Abubakar. 

His journey into the world of politics began in the early 1980s when he worked behind-the-scenes on the governorship campaign of Bamanga Tukur for governorship of defunct Gongola State. Towards the end of his Customs career, he became acquainted with Shehu Musa Yar’Adua who had been second-in-command of the military government that ruled Nigeria between 1976 and 1979. 

Atiku ran for the office of governor in Gongola State in 1991. In 1998, he was elected Governor of Adamawa State and it was while he was still Governor-Elect that the PDP presidential candidate, Obasanjo, selected him as his running mate. 

Atiku, who is an experienced politician, is obviously one of the main contestants for the 2023 general elections. Atiku’s position is reinforced by the belief that his almost 12 million votes in the hotly contested 2019 elections puts him shoulder and head above other contestants. 

The Adamawa State politician, who recently released an abridged policy document which was summed up to a 5-point development agenda seeks to restore Nigeria’s unity through equality, social justice, and cooperation among various people. 

Dubbed ‘the unifier,’ Atiku’s major strength is his vast network across the country. 

His supporters are hoping that 2023 will be the 11th hour for the 11th Vice President of Nigeria to become the president of the most populous black nation in the world.