Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has revealed that his father was once jailed for opposing his early education. Speaking at the American University of Nigeria (AUN) graduation ceremony on Friday, Atiku encouraged Nigerian youths to value education as the only true weapon for transformation.
“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 said, according to a statement issued by his media aide, Paul Ibe, on Saturday.
The 2023 PDP presidential candidate, who founded AUN, described the institution as a “world-class citadel of learning” and a legacy that would outlive him. He credited the American Peace Corps who taught him in 1961 for sparking his vision for higher education in Nigeria.
Atiku reaffirmed his belief in education as the foundation for national development, stating that no country can grow without investing in learning. He dismissed claims that AUN was established as a response to his childhood struggles.
“I have faced tribulations. I have been hunted, but I never wavered. Patience is not weakness—it is the weapon of the wise. When we resisted military dictatorship, I was offered a governorship without election. I rejected it. In 1999, I earned it the right way,” he recalled.
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