Browsing: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

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).

And, since the days the military twisted the country’s federal structure by making the state governments weaker and creating a stronger and domineering central government, agitations have been persistent over the decades about the lopsided nature of the federal arrangement in Nigeria. While some label their agitations on the recourse to true federalism, others call it restructuring and the only difference between the two is merely in nomenclature as true federalism and restructuring essentially talk of the need to restore more strength to the state governments. Indeed, the divergence of opinion between the pro and anti-restructuring elements have remained the distinguishing parameter in the ideological leaning of politicians in Nigeria. The pro-restructuring element are called the progressives and the elements who believe that the current order of lopsidedness should be sustained are known as the conservatives.

In a letter he personally signed, President Buhari said he was delighted to welcome Abubakar “to the 70s club” and prayed that Allah would grant him “many more years of good health and service to Nigeria”