AfriPulse
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed claims that a future government under him would be dominated by the Hausa-Fulani.
Speaking through his media aide, Kola Johnson, Atiku said his marriage to Titi Atiku Abubakar, a Yoruba woman from the Ijesa tribe in Osun State, proves his deep personal and family ties with the Yoruba people.
He described his wife as “a jewel of inestimable value” and said the Yoruba will always have a top priority in his policies if he becomes president in 2027.
According to Atiku, his bond with the Yoruba community is like family, stressing that he has four children with Titi, his first wife, whom he married in the 1970s.
“My children sometimes call me ‘Baba Rere,’ meaning good father,” he said, adding that his relationship with his wife and children further strengthens his connection to the Yoruba people.
He noted that the Yoruba are highly educated and sophisticated, making them too important to ignore in national leadership.
Atiku explained that in both his private and public life, Yoruba friends and associates have always been close to him, which is why he has never taken them for granted.
The former Vice President also highlighted his belief in unity, saying he has always been “detribalised,” relating freely with Nigerians of different ethnic and religious backgrounds long before entering politics.
Atiku added that his marriage to a Yoruba woman has only deepened his affection and respect for the Yoruba community, making any suggestion of Hausa-Fulani domination under his leadership baseless.
He said, “It is for this reason that I count myself extremely lucky indeed to have had a wife from amongst this noble specie of the human race, which by this token implies that the bond uniting me together with the Yoruba is aptly like the genetic bond of a family, and this is why the Yoruba, whether individually or collectively, have always occupied a special place in my heart.
“It is also for this reason that the interest of the Yoruba will always occupy a topmost place in my policy making and governance if by the special Grace of Allah, I am lucky to be president in 2027.
“Therefore, the fear that my ascension to Presidency might lead to Hausa/Fulani domination over Yoruba or other ethic group does not only arise, but also absolutely unfounded because the entire Yoruba stock are my larger extended family and In-laws.
“In case you don’t know or have forgotten, I was married to my first wife, Titi, a Yoruba woman in the 70s and we have four Yoruba children together. She is now over 75 years and we are still together.
“My children with Titi sometimes called me “Baba Rere”, meaning good father. I am extremely in love with my children and serve as a good father to them as I urged every father to do the same to their children.
“And besides, Yoruba are so sophisticated and highly educated that you can only toy with them at your own peril.
“My Ijesha-born Yoruba wife is more than a wife to me. Aptly put, he is my Jewel of inestimable value and anybody who knows about my family, even from a distance can easily tell you this.
“This has indeed been the reason why both in my private and public life, the Yoruba rank amongst my most intimate friends and associates. Therefore I have never joked with them.”
“Anyone who knows me will tell you with all sincerity that, as a person, I am naturally a highly detribalised person. Even before I could ever venture into politics,I flowed easily and effortlessly with people of diverse tribes, ethnicity, religion and whatever sectarian differences.”
“This is why immediately I opted into politics without being immodest, I was essentially like a politician without borders, in terms of my absolutely detribalised outlook. Call it a statesman if you would not mind.
“But frankly speaking, however, I cannot but confess that my marital union to a Yoruba wife had indeed gone a long way in endearing the generality of the Yorubas in my heart.
“I see the larger Yoruba regional landscape, not only as my home just as I equally see the extended Yoruba tribes men and women as an extended larger family. So the question of Hausa/Fulani domination does not arise at all.”
This comes a few weeks after Atiku Abubakar dismissed claims suggesting he has no interest in contesting the 2027 presidential election.
Source: KanyiDaily | Read the Full Story…
