‘I don’t know my exact age’ — Obasanjo opens up, says history poorly preserved in Nigeria
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said he does not know his exact age, explaining that he only estimates it by comparing himself with his surviving classmates from secondary school.
Mr Obasanjo spoke on Sunday during the Toyin Falola Interviews series titled “A Conversation with His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.”
He noted that six of his classmates are still alive, and none of them is below 90 years old, an indication that he is likely in the same age bracket.
“I don’t know my exact age but I could judge from those who were in school with me… So I leave it to you to guess what my age could be,” the former president said.
Mr Obasanjo also spoke extensively about the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, OOPL, describing it as a vital institution for preserving history, institutional memory and governance records in Nigeria.
According to him, the library has already digitised more than three million documents, with another three million awaiting digitisation.
“The idea is that when these materials are digitised, people can have access to them… As document preservation, we preserve the past, take note of the present and we want all these to inspire the future,” he said.
He disclosed that the library houses his primary and secondary school records, personal letters written during his time in prison—including those sent to his wife—and even a letter addressed to the late Gen. Sani Abacha after the death of his son. It also contains manuscripts of books he authored and detailed records of crops he cultivated while incarcerated.
“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,” Mr Obasanjo added.
