Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said that he will continue using his experience and fortune to bolster democracy and education in the country.
This is contained in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Mr Paul Ibe on Tuesday in Abuja.
The statement was issued to mark his 69th birthday on Nov. 25.
According to the statement, the former vice president has provided scholarship both in Nigeria and abroad to thousands of needy Nigerian students and had also built several schools across the country.
This, the statement said, included the American University in Yola which he founded with the cooperation of the American University in Washington, among others.
“I get enduring joy from seeing my people empowered with jobs, skills, income and opportunities through my investment,’’ the statement quoted Atiku as saying.
The university, which was started 11 years ago, presently, has 1,500 students.
Although a private university, the 60 per cent subsidy from the former Vice President has enabled children of both the rich and the poor to gain access to world-class education, the statement stated.
“Gifted children, regardless of their parental background, are also afforded opportunity to better their fortune in the university.
“The university not only helps students acquire first rate degrees, but promotes entrepreneurship courses to meet the challenges of the present Nigerian realities, ‘’ the statement said.
It added that the former vice president was inspired by his early life experience as an orphan who struggled through life to make it to the top.
The statement noted that Atiku was not only committed to education, but was also a remarkable philanthropist who dedicated his life to bringing succor to humanity.
It added that the former vice president had donated to worthy causes to tackle many deadly but preventable diseases like the now eradicated polio and had identified with the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
“Atiku is also an exponent of peace, unity, tolerance and peaceful coexistence as exemplified by the setting up of the Adamawa Peace Initiative (API) by the America University,’’ the statement said.
The API, the statement noted, was presently, a viable model for dealing with strife in multi-religious communities.
It further stated that Atiku`s generosity had extended to the United Kingdom where he recently endowed a Professorial Chair in African History at Oxford University.
MORE ON ATIKU
Atiku Abubakar (born 25 November 1946) is a Nigerian politician, businessman and philanthropist, who served as the second elected Vice-President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, on the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), with President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Abubakar worked in the Nigeria Customs Service for twenty years, rising to become the Deputy Director, as the second highest position in the Service was then known. He retired in April 1989 and took up full-time business and politics. He ran for the office of Governor in the Gongola State (now Adamawa and Taraba States) in 1991, and for the Presidency in 1993, placing third after MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) primaries.
In 1998 he was elected Governor of Adamawa State. While still Governor-Elect he was selected by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate Olusegun Obasanjo as his running mate. The duo went on to win elections in February 1999, and Abubakar was sworn-in as Nigeria's second democratically elected Vice President on 29 May 1999.
Abubakar's second term as Vice President was marked by a stormy relationship with President Obasanjo. His bid to succeed Obasanjo did not receive the latter's support, and it took a judgment of the Supreme Court to allow Abubakar contest after he was initially disqualified by the Independent National Electoral Commission on the grounds that he had been indicted for financial misconduct by an investigating panel set up at Obasanjo's behest. The Supreme Court decision ordered the electoral commission to restore Abubakar's name onto the presidential ballot. Abubakar ran on the platform of the Action Congress, having quit the PDP on account of his issues with President Obasanjo. Atiku lost the election, placing third after Umaru Yar'Adua and Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Atiku is a co-founder of Intels, an oil servicing business with extensive operations in Nigeria and abroad. He is also the founder of Adama Beverages Limited, and the American University of Nigeria (AUN), both in Yola.
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