Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has described Nigeria as a country without institutional memory, arguing that lack of documented records has made the country lose sense of history.
Obasanjo spoke in Abuja during the weekend through zoom projection at the 70th birthday book lecture, presentation and launch of his biography, Against all Odds, written by Nyaknno Osho.
According to the former Military General; “The thing that we don’t do well in this country is our ability to keep records well. This is one problem that Nyaknno wanted to correct all along. He did a bit of that to me when he worked with me as the democratically elected President.
“We keep these records to preserve the past, capture the present and inspire the future. Failure to keep the records is like losing the sense of history and when you lose sense of history you lose your memory, which can lead to calamity. When we keep records we keep our memories intact.
“I commend and congratulate Nyaknno for the book and I tell him more grease to his elbow. I know that according to the title of the book, Against all Odds, he batled so many odds to write this book,” he commended the author, Nyaknno.
Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines, the author made an appeal to the federal government to complete the abandoned National Library in Abuja, begging for the return of history in the school’s academic curriculum.
Asked his unfulfilled dream, the 70 year old Librarian said: “What will be my unfulfilled dream would be to see Nigeria become a big country. I want to see the government change the policy of removing history from our school curriculum. I will be glad if they return history as a subject in schools.
“They said that you only hear the glory not the story and the story of a man is in his own biography. I just wrote one, Against all Odds, my testimonies about former president Obasanjo. I worked with him for 25 years as a technocrat and I cannot remember when he asked me for any information and I fail to provide it for him.
“As part of my mantra, I still believe that I can still do more for the country. I am still very active at 70 and I have visited over 550 libraries around the world.
“I know how to manage information and all I need is support. I support the appeal for the federal government to finish the National Library that has been abandoned for years now,” he appealed.