By Citizen Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi
Your Excellency,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,
I write to you not as a critic, nor as a partisan of any camp, but as a concerned citizen standing within a generation that has watched your journey, studied your resilience, and acknowledged your place in the long and unfinished story of Nigeria.
This is not a letter about ambition. It is a letter about history.
Because there comes a moment in the life of every statesman when the question before him is no longer:
“What do I still want to become?”
But rather:
“What does my nation need me to become?”
The Moment You Now Stand In
Nigeria is at a crossroads — not rhetorically, but structurally.
Our fault lines are no longer hidden:
Ethnic distrust
Regional suspicion
Youth disillusionment
Institutional fragility
And above all, a growing belief that the political class is unable to rise above itself in moments that demand sacrifice.
In such a moment, individuals do not merely participate in history.
They define it.
The Burden of Your Legacy
For decades, you have remained:
A constant in Nigeria’s democratic journey
A bridge between regions
A financier of political processes
A persistent voice in opposition politics
You have contested.
You have negotiated.
You have endured.
But history is now presenting you with a different kind of contest.
Not one of ballots. But one of legacy.
The Choice Before You
Let us speak plainly, with the respect that truth demands.
The emerging opposition coalition is at a delicate point of formation.
Around it are figures like:
Peter Obi
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
Movements are aligning.
Regions are recalibrating.
A new political energy is forming — one that is less personality-driven and more coalition-centered.
But at the center of this formation, there remains one unresolved question:
What will Atiku Abubakar choose to become in this moment?
Because Your Excellency, whether acknowledged publicly or not, the path of this coalition bends around your decision.
Will you “stubbornly” insist on being on the ballot or sacrificially choose to become the Father of a new Nation?
A Choice Between Self and Nation
This is not an accusation. It is a reality of power.
You have the right and the capacity to:
- Run Again
To pursue the presidency once more. To test your strength against a changing political landscape.
But this path carries a risk — not just to your ambition, but to the fragile unity of the opposition.
Because a divided coalition does not negotiate with power. It submits to it.
- Or Rise Above the Race
To step into a role history reserves for only a few:
Not as a contestant —But as a unifier.
To become:
The National Leader of a restructured opposition
The stabilizing force that holds diverse interests together
The architect of a coalition that can finally transcend Nigeria’s recurring political fractures
In this role, you do not lose relevance.
You redefine it.
Why This Matters Beyond You
Nigeria today does not just need candidates.
It needs alignment.
The kind of alignment that can:
Bridge North and South
Integrate old networks with new movements
Convert political energy into electoral victory
A ticket that reflects this possibility is already visible:
A strategic convergence between Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso —A South–North balancing that speaks to both competence and reach.
But such a ticket, no matter how promising, requires something only you can provide:
Legitimacy across the old and the new.
Without you, the coalition risks fragmentation.With you, it gains coherence.
The Power of Stepping Aside
History is replete with men who contested power.
But it remembers differently those who redefined power.
To step aside at the right moment is not retreat.
It is control at a higher level.
It is saying:
“I will not just be part of Nigeria’s future —I will shape how that future emerges.”
The Risk of Standing Alone
Permit a final truth, offered with utmost respect.
If you choose to stand apart from this emerging coalition:
You may not be defeated, though victory is equally doubtful.
But you will obviously divide.
And in dividing, you may unintentionally strengthen the very forces the opposition seeks to overcome.
History, in its cold honesty, does not always distinguish between intention and outcome.
A Call to Statesmanship
Your Excellency,
This is your moment to do what few can do:
To choose nation over self — not in words, but in structure.
To transform influence into unity.
To convert experience into stability.
To become not just a participant in a democratic journey —But a turning point within it.
Final Word
In the end, every great political life is measured by one question:
Did it end in pursuit, or in purpose?
The nation now looks to you — not with doubt, but with expectation.
That you will rise once more. Not to contest.
But to complete your place in history.
Nigeria does not just need another candidate.
It needs a statesman.
And that, Your Excellency, is who history is asking you to become.
Ire o.
