Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has once again revealed that he is uncertain about his actual age, noting that estimates can only be drawn from the ages of his former classmates.
He explained that several of his contemporaries from primary
school are still alive, and none of them is younger than 90 years.
Obasanjo made this disclosure on Sunday while speaking at
the Toyin Falola Interview Series titled “A Conversation with His Excellency,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.”
The session was moderated by Professor Toyin Falola, with
the participation of the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr. Matthew Kukah, and
former presidential candidate, Professor Kingsley Moghalu.
During the interview, the former president also spoke about
the purpose behind establishing his presidential library, describing it as a
tool for safeguarding national records and strengthening institutional memory.
According to him, millions of documents have already been digitised.
He said, “We have digitalised over 3m materials. We still
have about the same number, 3m to digitalise.
“The idea is when these materials are digitalised, people
can have access to them. That is number one. As document preservation, we
preserve the past, take note of the present and we want all these to inspire
the future.”
Obasanjo further disclosed that several personal and
historical records are preserved in the library, including his academic files
and private correspondence.
He explained that the facility houses his primary and
secondary school records, a letter he wrote to former military ruler, General
Sani Abacha, after the death of his son, and another letter addressed to his
wife during his imprisonment.
Despite the availability of these records, Obasanjo
maintained that he still could not definitively state his age, but pointed to
surviving classmates as possible references.
He said, “I don’t know my exact age but I could judge from
those who were in school with me, I have given you an example of Olubara (Oba
Jacob Olufemi Omolade, the Olubara of Ibara) who is still alive.
“I believe there are six of my classmates in secondary
school that I know are still alive and none of them is less than 90 years of
age. So I leave it to you to guess what my age could be.
“My school record card in primary school, I have been able
to keep them and when I became President and I wanted to establish the library,
they were available to be exhibited.
“My records in primary and secondary school and even the
manuscripts of books that I have written, those that I wrote in prison and so
on, even crops of maize that I planted when I was in prison, they are there and
somehow I was able to keep them.
“Why the Presidential Library? I believe one of the things
we don’t do too well in our society is that we don’t keep records too well,
institutional memory is not what we do very well.”
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