I was 25% deaf without knowing it – Obasanjo

.Says Out-of-school syndrome, recruitment for future Boko Haram

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that he once suffered 25 per cent hearing loss without knowing it.

Obasanjo stated this in Bauchi on Sunday when he paid homage to the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Suleiman-Adamu.

According to him, many people in the world are deaf without knowing it until they go for medical checks on their hearing capacity before it would be revealed to them.

He recounted that he was abroad and couldn’t hear clearly when someone was talking to him, and insisted nothing was wrong with his ears, and the man asked his permission to check on the ears.

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Obasanjo said the result of the clinical analysis showed he was 25 per cent deaf.

“After my result came out, I had to ask the man to also check on my Chief Security Officer then but shockingly enough, he was more deaf than I was,” he said.

This experience, he said, formed the creation of the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, adding that thousands of Nigerians had benefitted from its ear treatment and provision of hearing aids in partnership with Starkey Hearing Foundation.

The former president said he would inaugurate the distribution of hearing aids targeting about 10,000 indigent people in the North-East, starting from Bauchi State where 2,000 people would benefit.

He said the exercise, tagged: ‘Sound Intervention Mission so Nigerians may hear’ would be implemented under the Obasanjo Foundation.

Obasanjo further said that all hands must be on the deck to tackle the security challenges in the country.

Responding, Sulriman-Adamu said that Obasanjo’s presence in the state is a sign of his deep commitment toward the development and progress of all regions in the country.

Obasanjo was received by Gov. Bala Mohammed, ex-Gov. Adamu Mu’azu, Sen. Abdul Ningi, and other top government functionaries.

Meanwhile, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the out-of-school children menace in the country provides a fertile ground for the recruitment of future Boko Haram insurgents, if not properly addressed now.

Obasanjo said this on Sunday in Bauchi, when he inaugurated the dualised seven-kilometre Awala-Mairuguri Road and 17.70-kilometre Awalah-Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa National Airport Road.

He also inaugurated the 30-kilometre Gubi-Ruda Bida-Siyi-Nasarawa Road.

In a speech at the ceremony, Obasanjo said that education and human capacity building are very essential in ensuring development and creation of a safer society.

He said: “World Bank says we have over 20 million out-of-school children, who should be in school but are not.

“For a population of about 220 to 230 million, that is 10 per cent of our population that should be in school that are not in school.

“Dear governor of Bauchi State, your Royal Highnesses present here, brothers and sisters, that is recruitment for future Boko Haram and nobody needs to tell us that.

“Apart from the 10 per cent of our population not being equipped to develop their innate capacity to be able to serve themselves, their family and communities, we are also preparing them to be recruited in 10 years or 15 years’ time for whatever form of Boko Haram it would be at that time.

“We are preparing them for whatever form of banditry and it will not be kidnappers in the usual sense of it by that time, they may be coming to homes and be snatchers of people from their homes. Think about it.”

Obasanjo called on leaders at all levels to put hands together and find a lasting solution to the menace once and for all.

He commended Gov. Bala Mohammed for embarking on the road construction, renovation and dualisation, adding that they would open new opportunities for development.

He further said that the projects would significantly enhance transportation, boost commerce, create new jobs and make life easier for the residents and farmers in the state.

Earlier, the governor said that the roads were part of the larger transformative vision of his administration.

He said: “As of today, we have undertaken the construction of over 116 roads, totalling 1,482.25-kilometres across the state.

“Out of these, 79 have been completed and are ready for inauguration.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obasanjo also launched the distribution of 10,000 hearing aids to indigent people from the Northeast in Bauchi facilitated by the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, in partnership with Starkey Hearing Foundation.