A Narrative about Atiku Abubakar [APC Presidential Nominee]

... by Sanni, from Ibadan [sent to Tribune News]

The new narrative made us forget the Atiku that was loyal and ran most of the policies that defined the first term of the OBJ administration, and immediately gave us an Atiku who was disloyal to his boss. The new narrative made us forget an Atiku who was already a wealthy man before he came into politics and government; who personally bought the Wadata House PDP national secretariat at the take-off of the party in 1998, and replaced him with an Atiku who became rich only after coming to government.

That such a narrative has become a public perception is not uncommon. Rarely, in this country, does good news make the headline. People often want to hear about how a plane crashed and not how the plane landed. Not many people will remember that Atiku, at the age of 16, bought his mother a house from proceeds of a menial job. Not many also will remember that Atiku became the Turaki Adamawa at the age of 36 when he was nowhere near a public office and retired from the Nigeria Customs Service at the age of 43.

We may even forget that his record in the Nigeria Customs was without blemish; and pretend to forget that he was that officer at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport who burst the money laundry scandal of the Buhari administration, recalling the notorious 53 suitcases in 1984.

It may also be convenient for some to forget that unlike any typical Nigerian politician who picked crumbs of bread from the table of military juntas serving as minister and Ambassador, Atiku never served in any military government, and was indeed a strong factor in the struggle to restore democratic rule in the country in 1999.