Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has once again addressed the long-standing mystery surrounding his exact age, explaining that he can only approximate it by comparing himself with his surviving classmates from his primary and secondary school days.
Obasanjo shared these thoughts on Sunday, December 7, during the Toyin Falola Interviews, a conversation moderated by renowned historian Professor Toyin Falola, with Bishop Matthew Kukah and former presidential candidate Professor Kingsley Moghalu also participating.
‘I Still Don’t Know My Real Age’ — Obasanjo
Reaffirming his often-stated view that no official record confirms his birth year, Obasanjo said that his best guide remains the ages of his surviving peers.
According to him, “I judge my age by those who went to school with me. One example is the Olubara of Ibara, Oba Jacob Olufemi Omolade, who is still alive. I know at least six of my secondary school classmates who are still living, and none of them is younger than 90. So you can make your own guess about how old I might be.”
His remark echoed previous occasions where he admitted that his early childhood lacked formal documentation, making his precise birth date uncertain.
Preserving Nigeria’s Story: Why the Presidential Library Exists
Obasanjo also offered deep insights into the creation of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), describing it as a national asset designed to safeguard Nigeria’s historical materials and institutional memory.
He lamented that Nigeria struggles with consistent record-keeping, a challenge he said the library aims to address.
“We have already digitalised more than three million documents and artifacts,” he noted. “Another three million are awaiting digitalisation. Once everything is preserved digitally, people—scholars, researchers, citizens—will be able to access them easily. The goal is to document the past, reflect on the present, and inspire the future.”
Artifacts of a Lifetime
Obasanjo revealed that the library houses an extensive collection chronicling his personal and political journey. These include:
- His original primary and secondary school record cards
- Handwritten manuscripts of books written during his imprisonment
- Personal letters, including one to General Sani Abacha after the tragic loss of his son
- A letter to his wife written from prison
- Even samples of maize he planted while incarcerated
According to him, he had taken care to preserve these items long before he became President, which made it possible to exhibit them today.
A Response to Nigeria’s Documentation Gap
For Obasanjo, the Presidential Library is more than a personal archive—it is a corrective measure against Nigeria’s weak culture of documentation.
“One of our biggest problems is that we do not keep records properly,” he emphasized. “Institutional memory is not something we handle well. The library is my own contribution toward changing that.”
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