Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has lamented Nigeria’s lack of institutional memory, attributing this to the absence of well-documented records, which has led to a loss of historical consciousness. Obasanjo made these remarks during a virtual address at the 70th birthday book lecture and the launch of his biography, *Against All Odds*, written by Nyaknno Osho, held in Abuja over the weekend.
Speaking via Zoom, Obasanjo, a former military general, emphasized the importance of record-keeping in preserving the past, capturing the present, and inspiring the future. “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 for me when he worked with me as the democratically elected president,” Obasanjo said.
He warned that failing to maintain records is akin to losing a sense of history, which can have dire consequences. “When you lose a 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.’ According to the title of the book, he battled so many odds to write it,” Obasanjo added.
Nyaknno Osho, the author, took the opportunity to urge the Federal Government to complete the abandoned national library in Abuja and to reintroduce history as a subject in the school curriculum. Reflecting on his unfulfilled dreams, the 70-year-old librarian expressed his desire to see Nigeria reach its full potential as a nation. “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,” Osho stated.
He also highlighted the importance of biographies in capturing the true essence of individuals, noting that “you only hear the glory, not the story, and the story of a man is in his own biography.” Osho, who worked with Obasanjo for 25 years as a technocrat, praised the former president for always seeking information and underscored his own lifelong commitment to record-keeping and information management.
Despite his age, Osho remains active, having visited over 550 libraries worldwide. He reiterated his call for the completion of the national library and emphasized the need for governmental support to enhance information management in the country.
