I still don’t know my exact age – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has for the umpteenth time declared that he doesn’t know his real age.

However, he stated that he could judge from those who are his primary school mates, saying six of them are still alive and none of them is less than 90 years.

The former President spoke on Sunday during the Toyin Falola Interviews series tagged, “A Conversation with His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.”

The interview was anchored by Professor Toyin Falola, a renowned Nigerian Historian as well as Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr. Mathew Kukah and former Presidential Candidate, Professor Kingsley Moghalu.

He also declared that he set up the presidential library to preserve institutional memory, keep records of things, adding, “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.”

He stated that the library has his primary school record, his records in secondary school, his letter to Abacha when his son died in an accident, letter to his wife when he died when he was still in prison.

But he reiterated that he doesn’t know his real age but there are six of his classmates who might have an idea about his real age.

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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