Browsing: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

However, it is also often envied by many, especially rivals, because generosity endears a person to the people, and it is not something that anybody else without such inclination can wake up one day and start practicing. A sociologist researcher, Kyle Irwin, from Baylor University in Texas revealed that “givers” can be quite unpopular at times, because they make certain people look bad. Or make them feel jealous or like they are not doing enough. Hence, they ensure that “givers” are punished at all cost!  

The confusion and power struggle between the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and erstwhile Vice President Atiku Abubakar, though political, were fuelled by allegations of non-compliance with due process over activities of agencies under the purview of Abubakar, including the Petroleum Trust Development Fund. Court cases afterwards merely favoured the former Vice President.

As 2019 gets closer and the issues are debated, it is only normal for persons and groups to take positions on their preferred candidates. The issues that determine the choices of groups and persons are many and differ from strata to strata. I spoke to a career politician and a local government council chairmanship aspirant in one of the south-south states a few weeks ago and he made it clear at the meeting that why my preferred candidate for president in the 2019 election was same choice as his,

Atiku stated this in a statement he issued on Sunday and he enjoined everyone to imbibe the spirit of unity, emphasized that the defeat of the indomitable Lions of Cameroon by the Super Eagles was a demonstration of the fact that the country will strive and succeed if everyone is united and stop the act of enthroning ethnicity.  

Much as I believe in giving, I also believe that the decision to give is always personal. However, when we see people give voluntarily, we should be able to commend them for their efforts. In so doing, they can be motivated to do much more. The Yorubas have a popular saying that anyone who doesn’t appreciate a good gesture is like though a crooked robber.

As a response to some of the reactions to Atiku’s stance, I wrote an article published in some national dailies including the Tribune of 11th August, 2017 under the headline “Pondering Over what Atiku Abubakar is Saying” and there was a barrage of responses. They all could be broadly divided into three categories: those who do not agree with him, those who agreed with him and those who agreed with him but thought he is not good enough to say it or act what he is saying. In the last group, one of the responses that caught my attention the most and has inspired this follow up article, is one from a female responder with the comparison of the “container and the content”. She specifically mentioned that the content (ideas) was wonderful but doubted the container (person).