GIANT IN THE TROPIC OF AFRICA: Atiku Abubakar (Waziri of Adamawa)

• Born on Monday, 25 November, 1946, in Jada, Adamawa State, Nigeria.

• At age 8, Atiku enrolled in Jada Primary School, Adamawa. After completing his primary education in 1960, he got admitted into Adamawa Provincial Secondary School. He graduated from secondary school in 1965.  In 1967, he enrolled for a Law Diploma at the Ahmadu Bello University Institute of Administration, on a scholarship from the regional government. After graduation in 1969, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was employed by the Nigeria Customs Service.

• In 2021, Abubakar successfully completed and passed his Masters degree in International Relations at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

• He is a politician, businessman and philanthropist, who served as a two-term vice-president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007.

• Atiku is a co-founder of Intels, an oil servicing business with extensive operations in Nigeria and abroad. He is also the founder of Adama Beverages Limited and the American University of Nigeria (AUN), both in Yola. American University of Nigeria (AUN) is the first American-style University to be established in sub-Saharan Africa.

• In June 2017, Abubakar was given the chieftaincy title of Waziri of Adamawa, and his previous title of Turaki was transferred to his son, Aliyu.

• Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will clock 75 years tomorrow, Thursday, 25 November, 2021.