Presidential Library fulfilment of my vision – Obasanjo

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo said that the Library was the fulfilment of his vision and mission which he had in 1988, to collect vital materials of the civil war.

Obasanjo, who described the Library as a centre of knowledge, said the Library would also sustain culture and encourage tourism. The former President commended the Board of Trustees and the management of the Library, saying without them, the Library wouldn’t have been possible.

Acting President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was among the plethora of dignitaries who graced the grand commissioning of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, OOPL, Abeokuta, Ogun State, said one of the ways to approach the future with sure-footedness is by preserving the lessons, the failures and the successes of the past. According to him, that is what President Olusegun Obasanjo has been able to do with the establishment of the Presidential Library.

The Acting President in his remarks, extolled the virtues of Chief Obasanjo, describing him as a world statesman, detribalised Nigerian as well as a gift to Nigeria in various ways.

Osinbajo, who spoke shortly after the guests were taken round the various sections of the library including the museum and bookshops, described Obasanjo as a rare gem. He said “very few human beings have a chance of making history and fewer still have a good fortune of making history and writing it as you go along and living longer to even establish a library and write history in your own words.

Baba Olusegun Obasanjo is certainly one of those rare human beings. “But the most serious advantage is that it is one of the sure ways of preserving the lessons, the failures and the successes of the past and also that we can approach the future with more sure-footedness and less pains. History is the most compassionate teacher.” This, he said, is what Obasanjo has done. Continuing, he said: “At some point in time we were told in an adage that experience is the best teacher, but, now we know it is only half of a wise saying.

The full statement of that adage is that experience is the best teacher for a fool, a wise man doesn’t need the pain of experience, history is a kind and a more compassionate teacher.

“President Olusegun Obasanjo is therefore a gift in various ways, being so intricately tied to the history of Nigeria, few years away from independence, to the civil war and then Head of State with the Nigerian people, and then the transition to civil rule and then from retirement and farming, and being twice elected as President of Nigeria and then handed over to another President. “At every turn, he recorded his views and perspectives and his perspectives, especially of the times in various books, articles, seminars and now in this amazing monument, to add credible life of service to our continent and to our world.

“We are fortunate that it is not only a life-participant and sometimes victim of the twist and turns of history of our nation and continent, but, he is an enthusiast. “Aside from all else, his enduring legacy will be his belief in one strong, detribalised Nigeria, and this is so evidence in the gatherings of Nigerians here and also his belief in words and in practice in an Africa united in vision and thoughts again; that Pan-Africanist vision is evident in the large gathering of African serving and former heads of governments here present.

“But we diminish his vision if we do not recognize his place as a world-stateman; even that is evident from the representatives of the world that are present here today. “I’m sure that as visitors to this Library, especially young Nigerians who, through this magnificently created place, will learn from both what they see and hear but perhaps what is unsaid, that our place in the history of our society is not what we take from it but what we manage to give it. The more selfless the giving, the more historic.

I’m previleged to be here to celebrate in this Library, a man who has given and is continuously giving, an authentic African icon, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo”, Osinbajo said.

In her remarks, the Liberian President, who also doubles as Chairperson of Economic Community of West Africa States, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, quoted the 22nd President of the USA, President Franklin Roosevelt, and commended Obasanjo for the gesture.

She said “History will bear truth to this President, setting the pace in Africa that will spell a long legacy of successful retiring Presidents to record and preserve the history of nation building for posterity and for the benefit of today and future generations. “You (Obasanjo) are inspired by the examples of President Jimmy Carter with whom you share the vision of preserving the record of the past for future purposes.

“I advise African children, adults, scholars everywhere and friends of Africa worldwide to visit this Presidential Library as we have experienced today, feel the exhibits from the life and times of a great son of Nigeria and Africa; more importantly read, see, hear, feel and interact with history and culture”. She said.