29/04/2026
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
