· PEOPLE & POLITICS
10 Absorbing Facts You Didn’t Know About
Atiku Abubakar
Power isn’t control but strength, and giving that
strength to others. Atiku Abubakar is one of the
Nigerian born great leaders willing to give his
strength to others so they may have the
strength to stand on their own. He is a Nigerian
politician, businessman and philanthropist, who
served as the 2nd elected Vice-President of
Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, as a member
People’s Democratic Party (PDP), with President
Olusegun Obasanjo. People who love him feel
he has a clear plan for Nigeria and insist he is
the most qualified in Nigeria to lead Nigerians
to the promised land. Hence, has gained himself
a warm place in the hearts of many Nigerians.
The surprising thing is that with the rapid growth
in ICT, the present day generation seems not to
know much about him. We bring you 10 most
absorbing facts you really didn’t about Atiku
Abubakar to breach the gap misinformation
may have created.
Here are a Few Things You Didn’t Know
About Atiku Abubakar
Source Of His Name:
Atiku Abubakar was named after his
grandfather. This is a common practice among
the Fulani people to name their first sons after
their paternal grandfathers. Atiku Abubakar is in
essence the first son of his parents.
Early Life:
Atiku had a very humble beginning and has
witnessed huge struggles of life considering the
early death of his father after he was jailed for
not being able to pay fine (10 Shillings) that was
charged by Alkali court for trying to stop Atiku
abubakar from going to school when Native
Authority officials had embarked on compulsory
mass literacy campaign in the region.
Atiku’s Father’s wish:
Atiku Abubakar’s father wanted him to become
an Islamic scholar, herdsman, farmer and
trader – just like him.) contrary to his fathers
dream he became Nigerian politician,
businessman and philanthropist, and served as
the 2nd elected Vice-President of Nigeria from
1999 to 2007, as a member of People’s
Democratic Party (PDP), under President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
Education:
It is pertinent to note that Atiku was persistent
study-wise as he never gave up on studies. He
attended Jahad primary school in Jada in 1960,
and his secondary school at Adamawa
Provincial Secondary School in Yola. He
furthered even after so many struggles of life
and completed Diploma in Law programme in
June 1969.
Early Career Life:
Atiku worked as a clerk in Ganye during holiday
and used his earnings to buy a house (a
thatched mud bungalow with two rooms plus a
kitchen and bathroom) worth nine Pounds
Sterling for his mother in Ganye, the
headquarters of the local government council
before joining custom service.
Source Of His Wealth:
Not many people knew that Atiku made his
money through hard work; Atiku built his first
house using Federal Staff Housing Loan of
31000 which was equivalent to his five years
salary or earnings from custom. After the
construction, he rented the apartment and used
the money to get another plot where he built his
second house. This explains how he ventured
into property investment and started earning
money in estate business. He has a lot of
companies in different areas, but the most
successful ones are dealing with oil and gas
logistics. More so, he birthed Adama Beverages
Limited, and the American University of Nigeria
(AUN), both in Yola.
Family:
Atku is married to Titi Abubakar, as well as
Rukayat, Fatima and Jennifer, amounting to four
wives and has 27 children………….seriously thats
a huge extended family. He met nineteen year
old Titilayo Albert while he was at Idi-Iroko, and
he secretly married her on December 1971, in
Lagos, because her family was initially against
the union. In 1979 he married Ladi Yakubu
because he had a lonely upbringing for being
the only child and does not want his children to
suffer what he had suffered. His key reason
being that he needed to expand his family. In
1983 he married Princess Rukaiyatu and later
divorced Ladi Yakubu to marry Jennifer
Iwenjora who became Jamila Atiku Abubakar.
Son:
Many Nigerians didn’t know that Atiku
Abubakar’s son is currently married to step-
daughter of President Goodluck Jonathan. Also,
Atiku’s son Abba married his Colombian
girlfriend Mariana Saleeby-Velilla in April 2014.
The wedding took place both in Dubai and
Adamawa proving how much Atiku respects the
culture of his people and Nigeria at large. Atiku
once declined a token of appreciation from
Shehu Musa Yar’Adua owning to the fact that he
was doing his job after assisting him obtain a
license to import beans from Niger Republic for
sale in Nigeria.
Early political Life:
He came into the world of politics in 1980 when
he was 34, but worked behind-the-scenes on
the governorship campaign of Bamanga Tukur
who at that time was managing director of
Nigeria Ports Authority. Atiku sought for votes
for Tukur’s behalf and also contributed to the
campaign. While in custom service, he met
Shehu Musa Yar’Adua who had been second in
command of the military government that was
ruling Nigeria between 1976 and 1979. In 1989
he was made a National Vice-Chairman of the
Peoples Front of Nigeria, the political
association led by Yar’Adua, to participate in the
change programme founded by Head of State,
Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. He later won the
position to be the representative of his
constituency at the 1989 Constituent Assembly.
I would say he grew from strength to strength
from that point. .......... Source Buzz NIGERIA

Hello OP.... Pls take dis to FP..... I know u will.... Coming bk comment later.... Cheers...

Uninteresting and Uninterested.

OP telling OP to take this to FP

I thought he inherited his enormous wealth from his family. He was just a broke public official that dubiously enrinched himself from the very start.

May God bless my hustle too

We are talking about GMB and Certificate and you are talking about somebody Gej has sent to political oblivion

Campaign after election.

Interesting, why now though?

Atiku Hmmmm U Have A Better qualification but d problem is that we have a better candidate #GMB-OSINBAJO2015 we will notify you if ur attention is needed Turaki Of Adamawa