As Atiku Abubakar completes another cycle in his success-draped ourney of life, it is fitting to take a break from the heat and rigours of campaigns and celebrate a national phenomenon, who has become a reference in diligence, confidence, capacity, forbearance, tenacity, entreprise and leadership.
For decades, Atiku has etched himself on the psyche of the nation, bestriding the political and economic landscapes with vibrancy, fervour and flavour. In all these years, he has built a wide network of friends and associates, who have become comfortable in his company, because of his cosmopolitan and detribalised disposition, his warmth, his kindness and his generosity.
A political tactician, Atiku remains one of the most experienced, connected and acceptable politician in Nigeria today. A value adding resource, Atiku, who contested and won election for the governorship of Adamawa State in 1998 was elevated to the position of Vice President to former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. In the Presidency, Atiku truly ran a Pan-Nigerian office, recruiting Nigerians across various divides, and focusing greatly on merit more than mundane considerations.
Atiku is a study in silence. He gets bruised, betrayed and battered in politics, but he bears all with equanimity. It is for his ability to hold his head under intense pressure, provocation and problems that some people read arrogance into his silence, but he continues to grin and bear it.
Atiku is one of the most structured and organised politician in Nigeria today. For every political aspiration that he nurses he is often prepared with documented blueprint. He frontloads plans and actions, to avoid accidental governance, which has been the bane of some administrations in Nigeria.
As Atiku campaigns to lead Nigeria in 2023, he has remained undeterred and undistracted, open and responsive. His campaign is gaining traction daily because he has been able to activate latent and long nurtured networks. One of the major advantages going for Atiku is his ability to relate across various demographics. He’s at home with the young and the old. He’s on social media and tech savvy, much against the grain among the people of his generation.
One major asset that Atiku deploys in the work environment is his knack for identifying talents. With a collapsing economy and other issues that threaten the greatness of Nigeria, Atiku is best suited to fix the broken structures. His success in business management is a testimony to his capacity to function in the highest office in the land.
On the global plane, Atiku can hold his own. His recent trip to the United States was a revelation to his hosts, some of whom had doubted the capacity of Nigeria to produce a truly global leader. Atiku will function in any international gathering without feeling intimidated, having elevated himself as a global citizen, who circulates freely around the world.
In the race to the 2023 presidency, Atiku is the only one that has the cognate experience at that level. To borrow the principle of talent managers years of cognate experience is an added advantage. As we mark another year of great progress in the life of Atiku history beckons. Nigeria is at a critical juncture. The candidates of various parties have been criss-crossing Nigeria, but to the discerning Atiku remains the most prepared, the most versatile, the most dynamic and the most suitable. He’s the key to Nigeria’s emergence as a continental leader and a world power.
Nigerians can hold their gifts today and turn them in as votes on February 25, 2023.
God bless Nigeria.
Senator Dino Melaye Spokesperson PDP Presidential Campaign Management Committee