Nigeria Deserves Better!” – Atiku Speaks Boldly to Peter Obi, Northern Elders in High-Stakes Meeting

According to reports, the meeting — organized by the secretariat of the budding political alliance — brought together hundreds of prominent figures under the platform of the National Political Consultative Group (NPCG) North, in Abuja.

Speaking at the gathering, Atiku Abubakar, a vocal proponent of opposition unity, reflected on his tenure with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He recounted how their administration tackled the Boko Haram insurgency, including issuing a decisive ultimatum to security chiefs to end the crisis or resign — an approach that yielded swift results.

“That ultimatum worked. The insurgency was suppressed within weeks or months. By the time we left office, the threat had been contained. Unfortunately, it resurfaced after our administration,” Atiku said, stressing the lack of follow-through by subsequent governments.

He also highlighted how their administration confronted Nigeria’s chronic police under-capacity, citing United Nations statistics that flagged Nigeria as severely under-policed.

“I told President Obasanjo at the time that the country was grossly under-policed. We had several police colleges lying dormant across the country. I proposed reopening them and expanding recruitment, which we implemented,” Atiku recalled.

He further described how the Obasanjo administration adopted a proactive approach to police equipment procurement — bypassing red tape and involving law enforcement officers and foreign ambassadors to quickly meet operational needs.

Despite those reforms, Atiku lamented that the country still grapples with a dangerously low police-to-population ratio. He contrasted Nigeria’s 340,000 officers for 240 million citizens with Egypt’s 1 million officers serving 100 million people, urging urgent reforms.

“These are structural issues that must be addressed decisively,” Atiku said.

Touching on education, the former Vice President spoke about key initiatives introduced under Obasanjo, such as the Universal Basic Education Act, which made primary and secondary education free and mandatory nationwide. He also cited the introduction of an education tax to fund learning infrastructure.

Atiku grew emotional while recalling a visit to Daura, the hometown of former President Muhammadu Buhari, where he witnessed the scale of the Almajiri problem — a reflection, he noted, of the deep-rooted educational challenges still facing the North.