Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has defended his record on education and support for vulnerable children after an X user questioned what he did to address street begging during his eight years as Vice-President.
The former Vice-President responded on Friday after an X user, @Oluwabunmi63697, posted a photograph of children carrying begging bowls and challenged him over the situation.
“Have you ever addressed this, sir? You were VP for 8 years, these innocent children are in your region and you couldn’t do anything to stop this calamity,” the user wrote.
Atiku said the condition of children begging on the streets should concern Nigerians, while highlighting initiatives linked to the American University of Nigeria, which he established in Yola, Adamawa State.
“I understand your concern.
“The sight of children begging on our streets should trouble every Nigerian,” Atiku wrote.
He said his decision to establish the university in Yola, instead of commercially stronger locations such as Abuja or Lagos, reflected his desire to contribute to education and development in the North.
“I established the American University of Nigeria as a practical investment in education and the development of the North.
“If profit had been my primary motivation, I could easily have located the university in Abuja or Lagos, where the commercial advantages would have been greater,” he said.
According to Atiku, choosing Yola was aimed at creating opportunities and expanding access to quality education in the North-East.
“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 added.
The ADC candidate also rejected the perception that AUN remained his personal or family property, saying he had transferred ownership of the institution to the community.
“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,” he said.
Atiku further cited the university’s Feed and Read programme, which he said provides vulnerable Almajiri children with daily meals while helping them acquire literacy and numeracy skills.
He also said the institution’s Technology-Enhanced Learning for All initiative had enabled more than 20,000 internally displaced children to learn to read through educational radio programmes.
The former Vice-President also pointed to AUN’s intervention following the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, saying scholarships were awarded to some of those who escaped Boko Haram.
“Following the Chibok tragedy in 2014, seven years after I left office, AUN awarded scholarships to young women who had escaped Boko Haram, giving them an opportunity to rebuild their lives through education,” he said.
Reports in 2014 confirmed that 15 girls who escaped the Chibok abduction were offered scholarships at AUN.
Atiku said his approach to supporting vulnerable children had consistently focused on education, insisting that children should not be left to survive on the streets.
“My conviction remains simple: every child belongs in a classroom, not on the street with a begging bowl.
“Whether in government or outside it, I have always sought to turn that conviction into practical action,” he said.
The exchange came amid Atiku’s recent criticism of worsening economic hardship in Nigeria, which he said was pushing citizens into increasingly desperate circumstances.
He had cited rising costs of food, transportation, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity, while arguing that economic reforms should improve Nigerians’ ability to live with dignity.
Atiku had also criticised reports of young Nigerians allegedly resorting to selling their kidneys for money, saying, “Young Nigerians should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs.”
