“A titan wraps its true intent in a curtain of clouds; for it is hard to map the mind of an immortal giant.” -anonymous
An enigmatic titan is a human puzzle. A social riddle very hard to figure out. One entity that occupies space in many places, faces andphases of minds. Every society heralds such an era!
Hence, not a few in Nigeria thinks that they know the man and myth of Atiku Abubakar, a Grand Commander of the Niger, GCON and former Vice President of Nigeria 1999-2007.
In short, many may assume knowing him on ballot papers as a politician, a public servant, a shrewd businessman, education investor, job creator, youth mentor, entrepreneurial industrialist, family man or a consummate philanthropist. As such, these dimensions have often dictated the slant of chants, memes and unsubstantiated allegations of corruption or questions about his biological origin!
The turbanned royal and Wazirin Adamawa, remains an enigma in the true sense of the word. Not because Atiku hides himself. But, because the world around him rarely look past the politics to see the pattern of ‘the man in the mirror.’
His untold story is not about scandal. It is about the public perception dominated by a knitly woven thread of contraptions, contradictions or outright misrepresentations that have constituted the living library of the ADC Presidential Candidate’s controversial public life.
Let’s rewind the tape of the birth of this patriot and statesman. Is Atiku really a Nigerian? YES, he is in capital letters! Bonafide biological citizen.
Let’s trace Atiku genealogically: his paternal grandfather, Atiku Abdukadir, migrated from Wurno in Sokoto State to Kojoli in Jada area of present day Adamawa State. Now we can lay to rest the false narrative of him coming from Cameroon or outer space.
His paternal grandmother was Iya Garba Abubakar nee Patu. While his maternal great grandfather, Inuwa Dutse had migrated from Dutse in Jigawa State to Jada, Adamawa State.
Atiku’s own immediate parents were born in Adamawa. His trader father Garba Abubakar died young in tragic flood in 1957, leaving behind an only child, Atiku Abubakar, eleven years old! Atiku was born on 25 November 1946.
His loving mother was a young widow, Aisha Kande, who had to struggle through thick and thin to guide her teen son to adulthood.
Therefore, constitutionally speaking, Atiku is a full-blooded Nigerian. This should eclipse the false tale and thought of him being a Cameroonian or an alien from outer space! What a political balderdash that lasted for too in some quarters?
Educationally, Atiku attended the following institutions of learning:
Jada Primary School (1954-1960); Provincial Secondary School, Yola (1961-1966); Police Training College, Kaduna State (1966); School of Hygiene, Kano, Kano State (May 1967); Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State (Diploma in Law October 1967-June1969), and Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (Masters Degree in International Relations, (2019-2021)
During his time in schools, Atiku was a Prefect (headboy) at Provincial School, a Students’ Union President in Kano State School of Hygiene and an astute Students’ Union Leader at ABU. It has also been chronicled that Atiku was a great team player who abhors bullying: be it of mates, women or youths.
The aforementioned should also lay to rest the tale by the moonlight on whether Atiku has an academic history or not. There are testimonies everywhere to support these claims. His classmates and credentials are also publicly documented. Atiku’s educational tentacles are a spectacle for all eyes to see. No hidden agenda about his humble background.
Atiku the public servant has also been a picture in controversy. He was a Customs Officer who became a capitalist. And that brought in the corporate stigma of assumed corruption index.
He spent 20 years in the Nigeria Customs Service. Rose to Deputy Director and retired meritoriously in 1989, to venture into business and politics.
That is the first contradiction: a civil servant who bet on the private sector. He built farms, logistics firms, and later a university. In a country where politicians chase contracts, he tried to build institutions that outlive him. The American University of Nigeria in Yola, in the middle of an insurgency, must have been the handiwork of a maverick or the conviction of an enigmatic titan.
On the question of corruption, no court in Nigeria or overseas ever indicted or convicted the former Vice President, despite the official obstacles placed on path throughout his second term in office. In fact, the beleaguered former Governor of Kaduna State and ex Director General of the Bureau for Public Enterprise, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, in his book “Accidental Public Servant” (page 151), declared that: “Atiku never bought anything from BPE”, nor interfered or influenced the sale of any privatized public company or assets. The former Vice President even waved his immunity to face corruption panels set up by the federal government.Surprisingly, nothing was found in his closet. No indictment, no court conviction. No wonder that Atiku’s reputational metrics supercede the trumped up charges of unsubstantiated corruption allegations and beer parlour conversations. Yet, some folks still cannot decode this enigmatic brand: Atiku Abubakar.
Meanwhile, did Atiku plan a ‘civil coup’ to usurp the powers of his erstwhile boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, as widely rumored? Facts have emerged from key gladiators of the time, suggesting that Atiku actually went on his knees to beg PDP governors who have mustered the numbers to unseat the then President. But, Atiku the preferred candidate halted the move by drumming the beats of loyalty for his boss. A video evidence by a television station in which Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, the former Governor of Abia State, publicly challenge anyone to the contrary, that: “Atiku knelt before all PDP governors and begged them to allow Obasanjo to get the ticket for a second term. Atiku didn’t betray his boss. He was very loyal.”
Somehow since 2007, he has spent more time in opposition than in government. He has run, lost, challenged in court, and run again. Atiku remains a frontline defender of democracy and constitutionalism in Nigeria.
Candidly, most Nigerian politicians disappear after one loss. But Atiku stayed. He built structures, mentored young aides, and kept showing up. In a system that rewards defection, he chose persistence and political tolerance.
There’s hardly a Nigerian politician that has been talked about more in corruption conversations, even without proof, and none has tested the courts more than the Waziri of Adamawa.
His businesses have thousands on payroll. His economic plans always start with SMEs and education-to-work.
“My job is not to give you fish. It is to build the pond.”
Atiku’s is a captalist who talks like a civil servant. A northerner who wants less federal power. A politician accused of graft who keeps going to court. And a perceived loser who never leaves.
Maybe that is why he remains an enigma to both his core supporters and critics alike. He doesn’t fit the picture of other people’s figment of imagination.
The untold story of Atiku is not a secret file. It is a pattern of choices. He is a fervent believer in the principle of unity in diversity in Nigeria, socio-economic leverage, resource control and devolution of powers, job creation and youth mentoring.
Like him or be against him. But if you want to understand Nigerian democracy, you have to understand the man and the myth of Atiku Abubakar: the persuasive liberal democrat and an enigmatic titan with spectacular tentacles.
Nigeria truly needs the wealth of experience and high net-worth network of a seasoned politician with a human face and entrepreneurial spirit.
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In sum:
“A titan wraps its true intent in a curtain of clouds; for it is hard to map the mind of an immortal giant.”
Alaba Yusuf is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja.
