Former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has revealed that his father was jailed for failing
to send him to school while he was growing up as a teenager.
Atiku stated this while delivering a speech at the Baze
University Graduation ceremony in Abuja on Friday.
The former Vice President also said that his father later
embraced the idea of education and despite his humble background, he enjoyed
quality education for free.
Atiku, in his speech titled, ‘Solving Nigeria’s Education
Challenges’, said, “I was a schoolboy and a herdsboy, and I fed my family.
“When I was 11 years old, my father drowned and died while
crossing a river in the neighbourhood. He was not up to 40 years.
“Being an only child, I was raised by my maternal
grandparents. I remember, sometimes we could barely afford one meal a day.
“Despite my difficult background, I went to school for free,
in fact, I was paid to go to school.
“Initially, my father did not buy the idea of me going to
school, for which he had to go to jail. I furthered my education to other
tertiary institutions. I was the Students Union President at the School of
Hygiene, Kano.
“My journey to education is different from yours. Your
parents may have paid tuition fees for your education, but you did not have to
rear cattle for food. However, both you and I got educated eventually. The
paths may be different; nonetheless, the destination remains the same. Let us
help others to reach their destination too.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com