Atiku Abubakar has offered to support the education of Yusuf Aliyu, a teenage artisanal miner whose video from a mining community in Niger State has gone viral. In a post on X on Sunday, the former Vice President said he had watched Aliyu’s video repeatedly and was deeply affected by……
Atiku Abubakar has offered to support the education of Yusuf Aliyu, a teenage artisanal miner whose video from a mining community in Niger State has gone viral.
In a post on X on Sunday, the former Vice President said he had watched Aliyu’s video repeatedly and was deeply affected by the circumstances surrounding the boy’s life.
“I have watched Yusuf Aliyu’s video repeatedly, and each time, my heart breaks. A child with such intelligence, clarity and confidence should be in a classroom building his future—not struggling for survival in a community surrounded by gold but buried in poverty,” Atiku wrote.
He said he did not see Aliyu as an “illegal miner”, but as a Nigerian child whose potential had been limited by poverty.
“I cannot look at him and see an “illegal miner.” I see a Nigerian child failed by the country that should have protected him. I see brilliance trapped by poverty and enormous promise abandoned by leadership,” he said.
Atiku also appealed for the boy’s safety, warning that his public exposure should not put him or his family at risk.
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“I appeal specifically for his safety. His courage must not expose him or his family to intimidation or retaliation. I am prepared to support his education and ensure that the brilliance we have witnessed is not buried by poverty,” he said.
He added that any attempt to reach the boy should be conducted through responsible channels.
“Any effort to reach him must be handled responsibly through his family and appropriate child-protection channels,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President also used the viral video to question the conditions of communities located around Nigeria’s mineral resources.
“But this video raises a question that should trouble the conscience of every Nigerian: how can a community sitting upon gold remain so poor that it cannot educate its children? How can its wealth leave the soil while hunger and deprivation remain in its homes?” he asked.
Atiku described the situation as “an indictment of the Tinubu administration”, arguing that the Federal Government’s control over mineral resources should translate into opportunities and protection for communities where those resources are found.
He contrasted the current administration’s approach with the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative, established under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The contrast is revealing. President Buhari established PAGMI to register, train and integrate artisanal miners into the formal economy, with Niger State included among its intervention states. Tinubu inherited that framework but has met these vulnerable citizens with raids, detention and the label “illegal miners.””
“Buhari saw people to formalise. Tinubu sees poor people to criminalise,” he added.
Atiku further linked Aliyu’s circumstances to the wider debate over poverty and mining in Niger State.
“This boy is evidence against the Tinubu government. His intelligence exposes the opportunities it has failed to provide. His poverty exposes the injustice of Nigeria’s mining economy. His presence at that site exposes an administration that has left brilliant children without a ladder out of deprivation,” he said.
He also called on the government to account for the status of PAGMI in Niger State and address the deaths of suspected illegal miners who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
“The government must explain what became of PAGMI in Niger State and how 37 Nigerians died in the custody of a federal agency. Calling them “illegal miners” cannot erase their humanity or excuse their deaths,” Atiku said.
The deaths have triggered investigations by both state and federal authorities. The Federal Government has constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the reported deaths and suspended officers linked to the incident pending the outcome of the probe.
Atiku said he would continue to speak for children affected by poverty and deprivation.
“As a father, a grandfather and a Nigerian, I refuse to look away. I will continue to speak for these children because their lives matter, their dreams matter and their future belongs to Nigeria,” he said.
“The gold beneath their community should build classrooms and livelihoods, not graves.”
The key claims about the 37 deaths and the Federal Government’s investigation are independently confirmed by the State House statement.
