Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that he does not know his precise age, stating that he estimates it based on the ages of his few surviving secondary school classmates.
Speaking during the “A Conversation with His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo” session of the Toyin Falola Interviews series on Sunday, the former President said this reliance on his peers is necessary to gauge his own longevity.
Estimating Longevity
Obasanjo stated that six of his secondary school classmates are still alive, noting that none of them is under 90 years old.
“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,” Obasanjo remarked.
The former leader officially marked his 88th birthday in March, relying on his calculated estimate for public record.
Preserving Institutional Memory
Obasanjo also used the interview to discuss the purpose behind the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, which he established to address the nation’s poor record-keeping habits and preserve institutional memory.
“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,” he explained.
He highlighted the massive digitization effort at the library: “We have digitised over 3 million materials. We still have about the same, 3 million, to digitalise.”
The library, he noted, holds a wealth of his personal history, including his primary and secondary school records, letters written while he was in prison (including correspondence with his wife and the late General Sani Abacha), manuscripts of his authored books, and even detailed records of crops he planted while incarcerated.
The goal, he said, is to preserve the past, document the present, and inspire the future by making these materials accessible.
