Who taught you to become a quitter? Who told you there’s only one path in life and that it ends at retirement? Who convinced you that failure is the end? Who said retirement means retreating to the village to count tubers of yam while waiting for the final trumpet? Who made up all these rules? Who?
Why are people so obsessed with telling Atiku Abubakar to retire?
For years, they’ve said he’s embarrassing himself. “Oh, he has lost several times.” ”Oh, he needs to respect himself.” “Oh, he let down the youth. ”Oh, he’s not God’s chosen one.”
But the man keeps waking up, ignoring all of you, and doing his thing.
Yes, he’s had political missteps. Yes, he’s hurt some of your feelings. The man is pushing 80, and like you, he is no saint.
But who said just because people don’t like you anymore or think you no longer deserve anything good, you should listen?
You are the same ones who told Peter Obi and the Obidients that 2023 was their last bus stop. Now you pretend to care for Nigeria more than those who still root for a different vision of leadership.
I love that Atiku refuses to listen to you.
If he had, some of you wouldn’t even know how the electoral process works because you never sat in a history or political science class.
Like Dangote in the business world, the man is a complete case study.
Me, personally? I’m not a quitter. And boy, have I fallen in this life. Too many times to count.
If I told you the number of businesses I’ve started and failed, the failed relationships, the jobs I’ve pitched for and never gotten… Whew.
The rejections in this life? Many.
But I keep going. Because why would I stop? Because some people think it’s time?
So you’re telling me that if I don’t hit my goals by 50 or 60, I should just accept it as fate and quit?
But which God do you serve? What kind of faith or vision do you have?
Are we talking about the same God who clothes the birds of the air without their help? The one who has given me multiple talents and a brain only for me to sit for the next 20 or 30 years counting grandchildren?
My friend, I would be bored out of my mind.
I’m either running ventures, sitting on a board, writing books, making noise, or I’m dead. No two ways about it.
Listen.
There is no script for life. Don’t let other people’s rhetoric box you in.
If retiring to the village is your thing, by all means, do it. But don’t enforce your worldview on the rest of us.
You think those great cities in the West you aspire to visit were built by people who were thinking of retirement? If that were the case, we’d still be doing trade by barter.
I mean, look at Bola Tinubu. Everyone said he couldn’t win because of scandals, health concerns, and opposition, but look at him now.
So if you must sit, sit. But let the outliers keep building.
To the ambitious ones reading this: However old you are, persist. Be bold. Be audacious. Play big.
If God wants you to stop, He will take you out Himself. Understood?
Me? I should quit my dreams because internet people who don’t know me think I’m no longer worthy?
Because you keep projecting your own fear and limitations?
Could NEVER be me.
Anyway, let me stop hyperventilating.
Let’s talk about another politician.
I once had the privilege of sitting with a man who had served as a minister and a senator under Obasanjo. He had also done 2 terms as a governor.
When he was was done. He retired to a life of purposeful obscurity in his home state. He was lucky to have a decent farm, where he built a modest home, and for the next 20 years, he lived quietly, attending to religious activities, reading, and being a good citizen. Few people remember him.
When I had a chat with him, I envied his life of simplicity. No scandals. No controversies. He left no lasting impression on people’s minds.
I interviewed him for a feature. We were served food and drinks and sat under a mango tree while he unpacked his life in government.
I left the place impressed.
Politics is highly addictive. Some people keep going until they die. Some are taken out by gross humiliation. Or sickness. Or death.
And then there is Atiku.
Decades of years and counting.
It is hard to say when was the best time for him to retire. After losing in 2007? 2011? 2019? 2023? After the next election?
I picture Atiku, having retired at 65, operating from his estate in Adamawa, mentoring a few decent leaders to carry his legacy, not the political jobbers surrounding him now. We only see him on birthdays, maybe once in a while when ECOWAS or the African Union calls him for counsel.
But this did not happen. And we are stuck with him.
Will he be on the ballot in 2027? Your guess is as good as mine. Does he have one more political move in him? Probably. Will he influence the next election? Certainly.
Then I have to ask myself, why does he do the things he does?
Certainly, there are selfish aspirations for personal glory and power. But that is not the full story.
Why do some men and women go to jail fighting for our freedoms? Why do some people care that we have a functioning democracy? Why do they keep speaking up?
Look back to your time in school or at work. Some people are docile and compliant, doing only what they’re told. And then some people, wherever they go, ask questions, challenge the status quo, and demand better. You don’t pay them. Some don’t even directly benefit.
Atiku was there when we fought against military rule in the 1990s. He helped usher in democracy in 1999. He stood against the third-term agenda in 2006. He has consistently challenged electoral processes, pushing for reforms. He’s been on the ballot every election cycle since 2007. He keeps going.
People have always stood behind him, except for the recent shift where some argue he lost touch with the youth. But history is history. And he remains a central figure in Nigerian politics.
We can learn from these two men.
The retired minister lived a quiet, fulfilled life, staying away from power and controversy. He told me politics was never his thing, but circumstances pushed him there.
And then there is Atiku.
He is not a failure. He was VP for eight years. He has built businesses, created jobs, influenced every major political shift in Nigeria since the 1990s, and remains a force.
But like football, where only winning the biggest trophy counts, many will call him a failure.
But what if we learn from him to always keep going?
Because, my friend, there is no script for life.
So, tell me again, who told you to quit? Who told you that your failures define you? Who convinced you that your story ends here? They lied.
Life has no fixed script. If your heart still beats with purpose, why should you stop? If your dreams remain unfulfilled, why should you surrender?
Age is not an expiry date. Failure is not final. And quitting? That is the real defeat.
Since when did we start letting spectators decide the fate of the players?
History is shaped by those who persist. The builders of great cities, the architects of innovation, and the minds behind revolutions didn’t quit because others said they should. They didn’t bow to the expectations of those too afraid to dream beyond their circumstances.
Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off. Go again. And again. And again.
Because the only time you truly lose is when you stop fighting.
Shaakaa Stephanie
University of Agriculture, Makurdi,
Benue State.
shaakaastephanie@yahoo.com@yahoo.com
