Former VP, Atiku Abubakar Clocks 69 and Pledges to Boost Education in Nigeria

A statement issued by Paul Ibe, the Media Adviser to former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday, Nov. 25 in Abuja to mark the ex VP's 69th birthday, disclosed that the Turakin of Adamawa will continue using his experience and fortune to bolster democracy and education in the country.

According to the statement, Atiku has provided scholarship both in Nigeria and abroad to thousands of needy Nigerian students and had also built several schools across the country which includes the American University in Yola which he founded with the cooperation of the American University in Washington, among others.

The statement read in part;

"It is impossible to write about the development of education in Nigeria without an acknowledgment of the immeasurable contributions of Atiku. Rotary International and American National Peace Corps Association have recognised the former Vice President for matching his passion with his purse.

Appropriately, the American National Peace Corps Association honored him with the Harris Wofford award in 2012.

“No private business man in Africa has worked harder for democracy or contributed more to higher education than Atiku Abubakar,” his citation at that event speaks eloquently. For many years he has used his own fortune to foster education in Nigeria.

He has provided scholarships, both in Nigeria and abroad, to thousands of needy Nigerian students. He has built hundreds of schools throughout Nigeria, culminating in first the ABTI (now AUN) Academy for primary and secondary students, and then eleven years ago - with the help and cooperation of American University in Washington, DC - the founding of The American University of Nigeria in Yola, Adamawa State - his home town.

“I get enduring joy from seeing my people empowered with jobs, skills, income and opportunities through the investments I make in my homeland,” was his profound response to why he continues to risk his investments in his home state of Adamawa even in the midst of the conflagration in the North east region.

By identifying education as a major area of his passion and investments, Abubakar stands out as a unique man who spends money wisely to impact positively on his people.

As his most visible and largest charity, the American University of Nigeria has arisen in only eleven years from the empty fields of rural Nigeria to become an institution of 1500 students with a faculty from 40 countries, a focus on sustainable development as Africa’s first “Development University,” and most recently the winner of an award from the American Library Association for its pioneering work in the development of one of the world’s most sophisticated e-libraries.

It is the only American-style University south of the Sahara and is already recognized as one of the leading universities of West Africa. The establishment of the world-class AUN in Yola, Adamawa State in the insurgency prone North East of Nigeria is the strongest proof of Abubakar’s passion for education.

Though a private university founded by the former Vice President, the about 60 percent subsidy provided by his intervention, affords both the children of the rich and poor access to world-class education."