Uche Amadi The Narrative Force
“Atiku trained in Kano School of Hygiene as Dubagari” – VP Kashim Shettima
On Wednesday, October 14th, at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Vice President Kashim Shettima told his audience that Atiku Abubakar trained at the School of Hygiene, Kano, as a dubagari. And they cheered. They thought Shettima had finished Atiku.
No, he did not.
What Shettima did was reconfirm that Atiku Abubakar is educated. He placed Atiku in a school, in a course, and Atiku finished. He did not drop out. Three key words from the Vice President’s own mouth: ATIKU, SCHOOL, TRAINED.
If Shettima had followed that up by reeling off the schools President Bola Ahmed Tinubu attended, I would have devoted this piece to comparing both educational histories. But Shettima, like millions of Nigerians, could not name a single primary or secondary school Tinubu attended.
Atiku’s educational journey is public knowledge, not shrouded in secrecy. From his father’s punishment for initially refusing to allow young Atiku to go to school, to Jada Primary School, to Adamawa Provincial Secondary School, to a brief stint at Nigeria Police College, Kaduna, to the School of Hygiene, Kano where he earned a Diploma of the Royal Society of Health, to Ahmadu Bello University where he obtained a Diploma in Law, to Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom. You can write a verifiable biography of Atiku’s education, not innuendos.
Crucially, Shettima failed to tell his audience who a Dubagari really is. In the pre-colonial and traditional Hausa system, a dubagari is not an insult. A dubagari is a scout, a watchman — one who monitors (duba) happenings, the movement of strangers, and security within a community (gari).
Thank you, Mr. Vice President, for the title.
Atiku Abubakar, our Mai Dubagari, has monitored our society and economy over the years, identified the strangers and mystery men in our corridors of power, and is now more than ever ready to secure Nigeria. Ba abinda zai ɓace.
Shettima picked the wrong subject to attack Atiku on – education. The same subject his principal cannot speak about. Till date, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is yet to confirm if he attended St. John’s Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos, Children’s Home School, Ibadan, or Government College, Ibadan. Whenever cornered, he retracts his head into his shell like a tortoise. No relative, no schoolmate, no classmate has ever come forward in his defence. Only the likes of Festus Keyamo, SAN, come on live television to argue that great men schooled privately from home.
Let us agree with Keyamo that the great man studied from home. What examination did he sit for? What certificate did he obtain? When I hear such puerile arguments, I wonder why I went to school at all.
The good news is that millions of Nigerians have accepted Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a four-year regret and are ready to vote him out on January 16, 2027.
Our minds, however, are made up: to vote massively for Atiku Abubakar, our Mai Dubagari, to emerge and be sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2027.
Uche Amadi
The Narrative Force
