Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the American University of Nigeria, Yola, was established to serve the community rather than as a profit-making venture for him or his family.

Atiku stated this on Friday while responding to an X user who questioned his efforts towards addressing the plight of Almajiri children in northern Nigeria.

He said his decision to establish the university in Yola demonstrated that commercial gain was not his primary motivation.

Atiku said he could have located the institution in Abuja or Lagos if profit had been his priority, given the greater commercial advantages of the two cities.

He said he chose Yola to invest in the region, create opportunities and bring world-class education closer to a part of the country that had long needed greater access and development.

The former vice president also rejected the suggestion that AUN was a personal or family asset, saying he had signed a deed of gift transferring ownership of the institution to the community.

“I have already signed a deed of gift transferring it to the community. AUN belongs to the community it was established to serve,” he said.

Atiku said AUN had also implemented initiatives aimed at improving access to education for disadvantaged children, including its Feed and Read programme, which provides vulnerable Almajiri children with meals alongside literacy and numeracy lessons.

He added that the university’s Technology-Enhanced Learning for All programme had helped more than 20,000 internally displaced children learn to read through educational radio.

Atiku further recalled that AUN awarded scholarships to young women who escaped from Boko Haram following the 2014 abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls.

He said he had continued to pursue practical measures to address educational challenges both during his time in government and after leaving office.