By Eric Elezuo

The rich cultural border town of Jada in Adamawa State, Nigeria, came briskly alive during the week, when trusted colleagues and associates, party bigwigs and immediate family members, trooped in to honour a man, whose legacies of political sagacity and entrepreneurial wizardry have become a reference point, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as he celebrates his 79th birthday.

With fanfare, razzmatazz and deep-rooted joy, the about-to-become-octogenarian hosted a week-long soiree rooted in legit discourse, high profile networking and philanthropy for all and sundry.

Known for his near-impeccable public service image, Atiku is revered as the Midas of our time, converting almost nothing to something of immense value.

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, once described the invincibility of the Wazirin Adamawa as follows:

1. Give him pure water and he’ll turn it into Farro water
2. Show him a Primary school and he’ll turn it into a world class univeristy
3. Show him a jetty and he’ll turn it into a world class port
4. Give him a bull and a heifer and just few years and he ll give you a herd
5. Give him a bag of chaff and he’ll mill it into animal feed
6. Give him a bottle of bala blue and he’ll turn the cream to farro juice
7. Give him a home and he’ll bring Nigeria into it as family members
8. Make him walk into an environment where there is contention and fight and see how they fade into peace.

From the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to the Yola Airport in Adamawa State, heartfelt accolades from supporters trailed every movement of the vice president, who absorbed all with equanimity, acknowledging greetings with finesse and humility, stopping at regular intervals for a deep hug and claspy handshake that says more friendship and camaraderie.

The grand finale of the activities was held at the Atiku Family Event Hall in Jada with a well-attended Commemoration Lecture that drew dignitaries and admirers including political associates, mentees, members of the diplomatic corps and many others from far and wide. Though it was meant to be an in-house celebration, it drew together distinct policy makers and more.

From one distinguished speaker to another, soul striking lectures and goodwill messages were delivered including tributes aimed at extolling the stateman-like qualities of His Excellency.

It is instructive to note that Atiku, as he is easily recognized, is not just another politician; he is exceptionally versatile as a detribalised, prolific entrepreneur and a practitioner of politics without bitterness. It is not a wonder therefore that he has excelled in politics, public service, and entrepreneurship, most especially.

It was in the notes of the one of the keynote speakers, Chief Dele Momodu, that the underlying greatness, humane qualities and more of Atiku Abubakar were laid bare before public scrutiny.

Momodu, in a lecture he titled Alhaji Atiku Abubakar: The Consumate Democrat, took the audience down memory lane as he highlighted the uncommon humility the Waziri Adamawa demonstrated when he stepped down for MKO Abiola in 1993.

The details of Chief Momodu’s speech are as follows:

ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR: THE CONSUMMATE DEMOCRAT

It gives me great pleasure, and I consider it a privilege, to have been invited to speak about one of the greatest Nigerians alive today. There’s no way I would have turned down this request.

Just last week, I was invited to a roundtable meeting at the British House of Lords in London, also at the behest of Alhaji ATIKU ABUBAKAR. I wish to offer my sincere gratitude to ALHAJI for his confidence in me and his demonstration of love for me at all times.

My earliest recollection of Alhaji was wayback in 1993, in the beautiful city of Jos, where three political gladiators, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Chief Moshood Abiola had locked horns in a world heavyweight bout to decide who picks the Presidential ticket of the Social Democratic Party. I was barely 32/33 at that time but I was politically savvy and heavily inspired and motivated by my adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola.

The SDP primary of that year remains unprecedented till this day. I will not bore you with details of the Convention that brought these juggernauts into a three horse race, which only one of them can, and must win. But there was a logjam and the only way a winner could have emerged was for one of them to step down and quit the race. This was a tough decision for all of them.

Alhaji Babagana Kingibe enjoyed the avuncular support of most of the SDP Governors. Alhaji Atiku had access to the extensive networks of his mentor Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. The Abiola team calculated well and smartly by reaching out to the godfather pronto. The incredible then happened. Without much ado, Alhaji stepped down and thus cleared the coast for the eventual victory of my adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola. Since then, unknown to Alhaji Atiku, I have been his big fan. Alhaji did not throw tantrums or sulk endlessly like a baby. He did not seek to destroy their party. Not that he didn’t have enough reasons to be angry and bitter but he chose the path of uncommon equanimity and submitted himself to the immutable will of Allah at His appointed time.

What could have made matters worse, Alhaji Atiku failed to clinch the runningmate slot, against conventional wisdom of give and take. Again, Alhaji Atiku went back to his drawing board, and about his life peacefully without raining a tirade of insults against distinguished elders who have paid their dues to our country. Even when he had the opportunity to retaliate after the June 12 debacle, Alhaji followed a path of honor by supporting Chief Abiola, unconditionally, and for the revalidation of his mandate. Alhaji Atiku is not your common politician.

As fate would have it, he later contested the Governorship election in his home state and won. But before settling down to his Gubernatorial assignments, he was invited to be the Vice President to President Olusegun Obasanjo. He would soon become the most effective and influential Vice President ever in Nigeria. As the head of the economic team, he was able to attract and work with the best and brightest. The gentleman’s agreement was that he would Vice for the office of the President after one term, but again he was let down. He could have fought tooth and nail against his Boss, President Olusegun OBASANJO but he chose the path of absolute peace and patience. But his boss was unhappy that Alhaji and his friends ever challenged him. President OBASANJO went after them like bullets. And there were collateral damages here and there. Several of my friends in Alhaji’s office at the Presidential villa were summarily sacked.

I must confess that I have never seen a man like Alhaji before. He takes everything in his strides. Most politicians would have brought down the rooftops. His faith in Allah is unshakable. What should have been to his glory eventually became his albatross. But Allah compensated with extraordinary favor as a businessman. While his peers became parasites feeding fat on the State, Alhaji became King Midas and most businesses he touched turned to gold. Though he never abandoned his political dreams, he pursued his ambition with visionary clarity and painstaking discipline. He never engaged in violence. He rather invested unrelentingly in the rule of Law. Whenever he contested and he felt robbed of victory, he headed to the courts of the land. Many of his landmark cases have since enriched our jurisprudence and legal lexicon. He has remained a tireless fighter and defender of the rights of the common man.

It is a tragedy that such a man of sharp intellect and prodigious talents has been endlessly maligned in the name of politics.

It must be noted that many of our political icons had suffered similar persecution in the past. My sad conclusion is that when we refuse to encourage good people, the worst amongst us will continue to thrive.

I make bold to declare my maximum respect for ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR as a great man of ideas and ideals, a peacemaker, man of God, blessed family man, absolutely detribalised, very cosmopolitan, well educated, versatile, humble in spirit, unpretentious, experienced and exposed. He is without doubt a man of diversity and destiny. May Allah preserve him for the benefit of all us because in the days of tribulations, kids must run to the elders of the house. No one else is better prepared for this role at this auspicious moment.

Please, let’s all rise and give a standing ovation to a leader who has refused to give up on his goals…

Other speekers, who eulogized the celebrant in goodwill messages were former Adamawa Governor Jibrilla Bindow, Senator Ishaku Abbo, Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, Senator Abdulaziz Nyako and several others.

In his traditional soft-spoken nature, Atiku expressed gratitude to all attendees, with special appreciation to the organizers, and special mention of Prof. Ahmed Shehu (Pullo Jada) for their dedicated efforts to ensure the smooth sailing of the event.

THE MAN ATIKU ABUBAKAR 

Below is brief history of the former Vice President as told by himself –

I was born on the 25th of November 1946 in Jada village, Adamawa State Like many of my generation, my father was opposed to Western education and tried to keep me out of school. When the government discovered this, my father spent a few days in jail. I was then enrolled in Jada primary school.

When I was only 11 years old, my father drowned and died while trying to cross a small river. The task of raising me then fell on my mother. At that age I resolved to work hard, remain focused and be successful in life to make my her proud. In 1960, I was admitted to Adamawa Provincial Secondary School in Yola.

Academically, I did well in English Language and Literature but I struggled with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. I spent most holidays working to earn extra money. In 1961, when I was 15 years old, my mother’s elder brother sold the family house in Jada without her knowledge and rendered us homeless. I spent that holiday working and from my earnings, I bought a house for my mother in Ganye. I became an orphan when my mother suffered a heart attack and died in 1984.

Post Secondary School

I graduated from secondary school in 1965. After that, I studied at the Nigeria Police College in Kaduna for a short while. I left when I was unable to present an O-Level Mathematics result. I worked briefly as a Tax Officer in the regional Ministry of Finance, from where I gained admission to the School of Hygiene in Kano in 1966.
I graduated with a Diploma in 1967, having served as Interim Student Union President at the School. In 1967 I enrolled for a Law Diploma at the Ahmadu Bello University Institute of Administration, on a scholarship from regional government. After graduation in 1969, I was employed by the Nigerian Customs Service.

Family

I met nineteen year old Titilayo Albert when I was serving at Idiroko, Lagos, and in December 1971 I married her secretly, because her family was initially opposed to the union. On 26 October 1972, Titi delivered a baby girl and we named her Fatima. Titi later gave birth to Adamu, Halima and Aminu.

In January 1979 I married Ladi Yakubu as my second wife. I wanted to expand the Abubakar family. I had no siblings and I felt extremely lonely as a child. I did not want my children to feel that way.

This is why I married more than one wife. My wives are my sisters, my friends, and my advisers and they complement one another. Ladi gave birth to Abba, Atiku, Zainab, Ummi-Hauwa, Maryam and Rukayatu.

In 1983 the late Lamido of Adamawa who had become like my father made me the Turaki of Adamawa. This position was usually reserved for one of the Emir’s favorite sons and was rarely given to non-royals like me. To ensure that I met the ‘blood tie’ requirement for the title, the Lamido gave me one of his daughters, Princess Rukaiyat, to marry.

She gave birth to Aisha, Hadiza, Aliyu, Asmau, Mustafa, Laila and Abdulsalam. I married Fatima Shettima in 1986. She gave birth to Amina (Meena), Mohammed and two sets of twins Ahmed and Shehu, Zainab and Aisha and then Hafsat. Jennifer Jamila Atiku-Abubakar is my last wife. She gave birth to Abdulmalik, Zara and my youngest child, Faisal.

Customs

My Customs career commenced on 30 June 1969. My first posting was at Idi-Iroko, a border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic. My other assignments included the Lagos Airport, Apapa Ports (1974), Ibadan Customs Command (1975), Kano Command (1976), Maiduguri (Area Comptroller, 1977), Kaduna (1980) and the Apapa Ports in 1982.

In April 1984, when I was the Murtala Muhammed Airport Area Administrator, my name was associated with a scandal that made headlines. As part of efforts to cripple corrupt politicians who had stashes of stolen cash in their possession, the new military government had phased out the old naira currency and replaced it with new ones. Orders had been given to ensure that all luggage entering the country was properly screened to prevent smuggling of the old notes. The Emir of Gwangu and Ambassador Dahiru Waziri had arrived from Saudi Arabia with many suitcases. As is customary, the suitcases were supposed to pass through Custom officers for check but the Emir’s son, who was a Major in the Army and also ADC to Head of State Gen Buhari drove straight to the Tarmac with soldiers, off-loaded the suitcases there, picked up his father and the Ambassador and drove away. The soldiers had threatened to shoot the Custom officers who had protested and tried to stop them. My officers reported in writing to me and I in turn reported the incidence to my boss, the Director of Customs. A few days later, one of the officers leaked the story to Guardian Newspapers and their correspondent called me to confirm if it was true. I did.

Soon after, Newspaper Headlines read, “Passenger with 53 suitcases leaves airport unchecked”. This scandal embarrassed the government and they tried to make me deny it happened. I refused and they threatened to throw me out of service. The Minister of Finance then, Soleye, who oversaw the Customs Service played a big role in ensuring I wasn’t dismissed. He had said it would be unfair to punish me for being honest and standing by my officers.

In 1987 I was promoted to Deputy Director of Customs and Excise in charge of Enforcement and Drugs. In April 1989, when I was 43, I voluntarily retired from Customs after 20 years of meritorious service.

Business

I’ve always had a good nose for business. In my early years as a Customs officer, I received a 31,000 naira Housing Loan, built a bungalow in Yola, and rented it out. With the rent I collected in advance, I bought a second plot and built another house. I continued building new houses with rent from completed ones and after a few years I had built 8 houses in choice areas in Yola. When I was transferred to Kaduna, I continued this process and in a few years I had 5 houses there.

In 1981, I moved into agriculture. I became the largest maize farmer in the whole of Gongola state. Unfortunately, due to Government policies that increased the cost of production, the business fell on hard times and closed in 1986.

The most successful business I ever ventured into was with Gabrielle Volpi, an Italian businessman. He intimated me about how profitable Oil and Gas Logistics business could be and, trusting his abilities, I partnered with him to form NICOTES which started operating from a container office at Apapa ports.

When the business began to grow, we relocated to Onne, Rivers State. The company, now known as INTELS (Integrated and Logistics Services) is a multi-billion naira company that has a staff of over 15,000 people and pays huge dividends to its shareholders. My other businesses include agriculture, feed making, plastics, printing, TV/radio media, and beverages.

Politics

I met Shehu Musa Yar’Adua towards the end of my Customs career. He invited me to the political meetings that were happening regularly in his Lagos home; and that was how my foray into politics began.

In 1989 the political meetings became Peoples Front of Nigeria and I was elected as the National Vice- Chairman.

We wish the Wazirin Adamawa a happy birthday, and many fruitful years ahead!