Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said his father was jailed for opposing his enrolment in school at childhood.

Atiku, the founder of the American University of Nigeria, urged Nigerian youths to embrace education, pointing out that it is the only instrument that can change their lives.

A statement on Saturday by his media aide, Paul Ibe, said the 2023 presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party stated this at the varsity’s graduation ceremony on Friday.

“My father was jailed for resisting my enrolment in school. We started from nothing — sitting on the bare ground, writing with our fingers. That’s how far I have come,” Atiku was quoted to have said in the statement.

He described the AUN as a “world-class citadel of learning” and a legacy that will endure for generations.

Atiku who reaffirmed his belief that education was the most transformative force for personal and national development, noted that no country could develop without quality education.

He stated that AUN was not a direct response to his childhood struggle.

“The AUN story is different. It was the American Peace Corps who taught me in 1961 that truly ignited the vision.

“I have faced tribulations. I have been hunted, but I never wavered. Patience is not weakness. It is a weapon of the wise. When we resisted military dictatorship, they offered me a governorship without an election — I rejected it. In 1999, I earned it the right way and became Vice President,” he said.