Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has once again stated that he does not know his exact age, explaining that he can only estimate it based on the ages of his surviving primary school classmates, none of whom are younger than 90.
Obasanjo made this disclosure during the Toyin Falola Interview Series, which also featured Dr. Matthew Kukah and Professor Kingsley Moghalu.
On the subject of his presidential library, Obasanjo described it as a crucial tool for safeguarding national records and strengthening institutional memory.
He highlighted the extent of the digitalization efforts:
“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.”
Despite the availability of vast records, including his academic files and private correspondence (such as a letter to General Sani Abacha after his son’s death and a letter to his wife during his imprisonment), Obasanjo maintained that his precise age remains a guess:
“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.”
He reiterated the primary purpose of the facility:
“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.”
