Former president Olusegun Obasanjo while celebrating his birthday during a program organised by the Centre for Human Security with the theme “Presidential Libraries Will Reduce Leadership Deficit in Africa” has admitted that he does not know his true age.
The former president while speaking at the event which held on Thursday in Abeokuta revealed that his late mother told him he was birthed on a market day.
Olusegun Obasanjo while speaking at the 2017 International Youth Variety Day and Public Presentation of Olusegun Obasanjo’s Books for Children as part of his 80th birthday celebration said: “At early stage in my life, I had the challenge of knowing my date of birth, and my peers always asked, while in return I persisted in asking my mother, who was an illiterate and had no records.”
He added that his mother being an illiterate before she died couple not provided concrete information regarding his birth date. He noted that he was however able to extract some information from her.
He said: “When I continued to put pressure on my mother, she told me that she was preparing to go to market on the said day, and went into labour, and before others could return from the market, she had given birth to me.”
He added: “I’m not as lucky as some of my peers who know the dates of their birth. What matters to me is that I have chosen a date. If I don’t even know the exact date of my birth, at least I know my age group.”
