Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has defended his decision to establish the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, Adamawa State, saying the institution was founded to invest in education and the development of the North rather than to generate personal profit.
Atiku made the clarification in a post on X while responding to a user who questioned his contributions to education and initiatives that supports vulnerable children in the region.
He said his choice of Yola was deliberate, arguing that if profit had been his primary motivation, he would have established the university in commercially attractive cities such as Abuja or Lagos.
“I chose Yola because I wanted to invest in my people, create opportunities, and bring world-class education closer to a region that had long needed greater access and development,” he said.
The former vice president also revealed that he had transferred ownership of AUN to the community, stressing that the institution was no longer his personal or family property.
“And as I have publicly stated before, this university is not my personal property or that of my family. I have already signed a deed of gift transferring it to the community. AUN belongs to the community it was established to serve,” Atiku said.
Atiku further highlighted several programmes established through AUN to support vulnerable children, including the Feed and Read programme, which provides daily meals to Almajiri children while teaching them literacy and numeracy.
He also said the university’s Technology-Enhanced Learning for All initiative had helped more than 20,000 internally displaced children learn to read through educational radio programmes.
Recounting AUN’s intervention after the 2014 abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, Atiku said the university offered scholarships to young women who escaped Boko Haram, giving them an opportunity to rebuild their lives through education.
Atiku, who served as Nigeria’s vice president from 1999 to 2007, said the growing number of children begging on Nigerian streets should worry both citizens and policymakers.
“The sight of children begging on our streets should trouble every Nigerian,” he said.
He insisted that children should be in classrooms rather than on the streets seeking alms.
“My conviction remains simple: every child belongs in a classroom, not on the street with a begging bowl,” Atiku said.
According to him, his commitment to expanding educational opportunities for vulnerable children has remained consistent, both during his time in government and after leaving office.
“Whether in government or outside it, I have always sought to turn that conviction into practical action,” he said.
