Atiku Shares How He Escaped Assassination Attempt: "They Shot at Me"

• Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar addressed AUN’s Class of 2025, stressing that education is the most powerful tool for personal and national progress
• He shared personal stories of hardship, courage, and resilience, including surviving an assassination attempt, to inspire graduates to lead with integrity
• Atiku urged the new graduates to build independent businesses rooted in ethical values, rejecting shortcuts and remaining steadfast in the face of adversity

Former Vice President of Nigeria and founder of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Atiku Abubakar, has once again affirmed his belief in education as the most powerful tool for transforming lives and building nations.

Addressing the AUN Class of 2025, Atiku shared deeply personal reflections and life lessons aimed at inspiring the new graduates to lead with conviction and resilience.

Atiku recounts his early years

Recalling his early struggles, Atiku told graduates that his late father was once jailed for opposing his enrollment in school, an experience that shaped his unyielding commitment to education.

“We started from nothing—sitting on the bare ground, writing with our fingers. That’s how far I’ve come,” he said in a podcast produced by AUN’s Communications and Multimedia Design department.

While some assume AUN was founded as a response to his childhood, Atiku clarified that it was his encounter with the American Peace Corps in 1961 that sparked the vision for a globally oriented institution in Nigeria, Daily Trust reported.

He said the Corps’ dedication and teaching methods planted the seed for what would later become the AUN.

Atiku narrated how he refused governorship role

Throughout his speech, Atiku encouraged the graduates to cultivate patience, develop courage, and maintain their integrity in both personal and professional pursuits.

He recounted how he was offered a governorship role during Nigeria’s military era, which he refused due to the absence of democratic process.

“Patience is not weakness. It is a weapon of the wise,” he told the audience.

Drawing from his political journey, Atiku spoke about the influence of his late mentor, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, describing him as a man who embodied courage, even in the face of death.

He also shared a harrowing moment when he survived an assassination attempt in Kaduna, standing firm despite gunfire.

“I hid my wife and children in a wardrobe and stepped forward to confront the attackers. They shot at me but missed. I stood up and demanded, ‘Why did you fire?’ That’s what courage looks like,” he said.

To the graduates venturing into entrepreneurship, Atiku advised them to build their businesses on strong ethical foundations, urging them to remain independent and avoid relying on government patronage.

“Don’t engage in unnecessary confrontation, but never compromise your values,” he cautioned.

As the graduates celebrated their achievements, Atiku’s message served as both a reflection on the power of education and a challenge to the next generation to lead with purpose, resilience, and a deep sense of responsibility.

Murray-Bruce dismisses Atiku’s corruption allegations

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, chairman of the Silverbird Group, had pushed back against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s recent criticism of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, defending his integrity and leadership.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, had alleged in a recent interview with journalist Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie that he received reports implicating Akpabio in corrupt practices during his tenure as Governor of Akwa Ibom State.

Source: Legit.ng