On the 25th of November, 1946, a child was born in Jada, then a small town in what is now Adamawa State, and that child grew up to be me, Atiku. Though born into a humble background, I have been fortunate, and life had been a blessing to me. As an orphan without a father or siblings, and a very poor mother, I grew up alone, but have been blessed by divine providence. I was given an education, against the stern wishes of my father, and that education has prospered my life.
Today is my birthday, and I turn 67, blessed with a loving family, a house full of children and an army of grandchildren. This year's birthday, I believe is very significant, because I'm not only celebrating with my family and friends, but with tens of thousands of friends I've made over the past couple of months on social media. We have talked, shared and disagreed about many issues affecting our country, but in all this time, you, my friends, have shown me that there is hope yet in this generation of Nigerians for the future of Nigeria. You have shown that despite all the troubles that this country has gone through, the spirit of our young people endures, and they are fighting to take the future of this country to greater heights.
Over these past months interacting with this great generation of young Nigerians, one thing has shone though: you have a dream to push Nigeria to her full potential, and I say you have the right to dream for that better future for Nigeria. It is possible. We don't often hear about the Nigerian dream, but I am evidence of the Nigerian Dream. I am evidence that a poor child can rise from very obscure beginnings to prosper in a rewarding career, retire to build an immensely prosperous business, and go on to occupy one of the highest offices in his country. That is my story.
In the last couple of months, many of you have asked me to share my life's story, and I could not think of a better day to do this. A couple of years ago, one of my aides, Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba, did a great piece of work on my early life, and published it as a book titled "Atiku: The Story of Atiku Abubakar". Apart from the scores of interviews he did with me, he also interviewed my friends, family, acquaintances, and sometimes the people he considered my adversaries. This is the book where many of the stories of my life are chronicled, all the way to my early years as Vice President of Nigeria.
This year, after many requests on social media, I decided to revisit many of those interviews with Ojo, and a brief summary of my life has been put together in a brief book titled "My Life". As a tribute to this connected generation, this book will only be published online and electronically.
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