FORMER PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO; LATEST MEMOIRS

FORMER PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO; LATEST MEMOIRS

by Olusegun Obasanjo 

Ninety-four-year-old olusegun Obasanjo wrote a soul-shaking letter to Nigerians. Does that mean he is about to le@ve this world? Here are the words he wrote . He has already said that he is bidding farewell to l!fe…

My fellow Countrymen,

People tell you that life is very long. “Live easily,” they say. “There’s still plenty of time.”
I am ninety-four years old as I write these lines, and I say with complete certainty: that is not true. Life is not long; it is as brief as the blink of an eye. Now that I am about to le@ve this world, my heart wishes to entrust a few truths to you.

I earned wealth, saw respect, built a name—but tonight all of it feels like dust lying in the corner of my room. If I stretch out my hand, nothing will go with me. The things I held close to my chest all my life now feel like sand slipping through my fingers.

Before I go, I want to lighten my heart. Some things have remained buried inside me for seventy years. I do not want you to lie on a bed one day, remembering your past life, and feel a sting in your heart with every memory.

The first truth: Stop living in the waiting room.

A large part of my life passed in waiting.
In school, I thought life would begin once I got my certificate.
When I got a job in the army, I waited for the weekend.
After marriage, I waited for my children to grow up.
When they grew up, I waited for retirement.

I treated every present moment as just a phase, as if real life was waiting somewhere ahead. I kept staring at the distant horizon and never felt the ground beneath my feet. Today I understand there is no final destination. The journey itself is life—and instead of living it, I merely passed through it.

I still remember a rainy Tuesday. I was thirty years old, sitting in my office, staring at the clock. Rain was pouring outside, and inside my heart was restless. I wanted time to pass quickly. I wanted to escape that day.

Today, if someone asked me, I would give all my earnings to relive just that one day—the chair, the silence, the sound of rain against the glass, and the strength in my legs.

Perhaps you are doing the same. You say, “I’ll be happy when I get promoted. I’ll feel peace when I have more money. My life will be complete when I find the right person.” You are selling today in exchange for tomorrow—and that tomorrow may never come.

Do not waste your days like this. One day you will realize those ordinary days were the most precious.

The second truth: Gold cannot be eaten.

I spent fifty years building an empire. Long hours of work. Missed my children’s birthdays. Even during festivals, my mind was stuck at the office. I saw the waiting in my wife’s eyes and comforted myself by saying, “I’m doing this for them.”

I bought a big house, an expensive car, fine clothes. I believed these things increased my worth, made me appear bigger in the eyes of others.

Now that my departure is near, I realize none of it will go with me. The house will belong to someone else. The walls will be painted according to someone else’s taste. The car will end up in a junkyard. The money will remain just a number. Tonight it cannot hold my hand or tell me not to be afraid.

I remember a day when my daughter called me into the garden. She had found a tiny insect and wanted me to sit with her and watch it. There was joy in her eyes. I said, “Not now, I’m busy. I’m earning money.”

She quietly turned away. The sadness in her eyes still burns my heart. I lost a precious moment with my daughter in exchange for a few paper notes.

If you are exhausting yourself only for a paycheck, pause. Your workplace will replace you quickly—but your home will never forget you. Gather wealth of memories, not possessions.

The third truth: Tear down the walls around your heart.

When I was young, I thought I was strong. I never apologized first. I hesitated to speak what was in my heart. I believed that if a man softened, people would see him as weak. I rarely expressed love—perhaps afraid my image of toughness would break.

I had a brother. We grew up together. Played in the same courtyard. Sat at the same table. Shared joys and sorrows. One day, we became upset over something trivial.

Today, honestly, I do not even remember what it was. Maybe money. Maybe an argument. But at that time I was certain I was right. I decided he would come first.

Days passed, then months, then years. On every festival my heart wanted to pick up the phone—but ego stood in the way. I kept telling myself there was still time.

One day the phone rang—but it wasn’t him. The news came that he had suffered a sudden stroke and passed away. I stood before his cold face, and my insistence on being right felt meaningless.

I was right—but I was alone. Ten years of laughter, ten years of conversations, ten years of festivals—I had laid them all at the feet of ego. That day I understood: some relationships are saved not by logic, but by love.

If you love someone, say it today. If you are wrong, apologize today. There is no promise of tomorrow.

The fourth truth: Fear is a false shadow.

At twenty-two, I wanted to become a writer. I had a notebook filled with ideas, dreams, stories. But I never wrote a book about those dreams and stories. I was afraid people would laugh, that I would fail, that I would not be taken seriously.

I chose the safe path and spent my life fulfilling other people’s dreams. Today my hands tremble. Even if I want to, I cannot hold a pen properly. My eyes have grown dim. That book is still inside me—and perhaps it will be buried in silence with me. Instead of it, I wrote “My Command”, and “Under My Watch”.

The real tragedy of life is not death; it is the dreams we kill while we are alive.

Perhaps the cemetery is the richest place in the world—because buried there are all the unwritten novels, unsung songs, and unstarted dreams.

Do not add to that silent treasure. Do not keep postponing the desire in your heart. Take a step. Even if you stumble, at least you will be able to say, “I tried.”

Better to step into the river once than to stand on the shore forever thinking about it. “If only” is the most painful phrase. In old age, it wakes a person in the silence of the night.

The ticking of my clock now sounds clearer. I have laid down the stones of worry, ego, and fear. I am now just a helpless human being—just as I was on the day I was born—empty-handed.

You are still alive. You have another day. Do not waste it. Look at your hands. Move your fingers. Feel your breath. It is all a miracle.

Do not wait until you are ninety-four to realize how beautiful life is. Feel it now.

I am about to close my eyes. I hope my words find a place in your heart like a seed.

Live—not for me, but for truth. Live from the heart. Live fully for yourself. Live for your loved ones.

Live now.

Goodbye…

Summary:
Life is not long; it is as brief as a blink. Stop living in the waiting room. Gold cannot be eaten, and relationships sacrificed at the feet of ego never return. Do not bury your dreams in the graveyards of fear—live today.