Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has revealed that his father was once jailed for opposing his enrollment in school during his childhood.
Atiku made this revelation while addressing graduates at the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, during the institution’s 2024 convocation ceremony on Friday.
A statement issued Saturday by his media aide, Paul Ibe, quoted Atiku as urging Nigerian youth to embrace education as a powerful tool for personal transformation and national progress.
“My father was jailed for resisting my enrolment in school. We started from nothing—sitting on the bare ground, writing with our fingers.
That’s how far I have come,” Atiku told the graduating class.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described AUN, which he founded, as a “world-class citadel of learning” and a legacy designed to outlive generations.
While reflecting on his journey, Atiku reaffirmed his long-standing belief in the transformative power of education.
“No nation can develop without quality education,” he said.
Clarifying the inspiration behind founding AUN, Atiku explained that it was not directly tied to his personal struggle with access to education. “The AUN story is different.
It was the American Peace Corps who taught me in 1961 that truly ignited the vision.”
He also recounted moments of political adversity. “I have faced tribulations.
I have been hunted, but I never wavered. Patience is not weakness. It is a weapon of the wise,” he said.
Atiku added that he once rejected an offer to become a governor under a military regime without an election.
“In 1999, I earned it the right way and became Vice President,” he noted.