Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo made a striking remark about academic achievement and personal effort during an interview on TV Platinum, highlighting what he sees as a meaningful difference between receiving support for education and pursuing it independently.
Obasanjo, who earned his PhD at the age of 80, acknowledged that academic qualifications have become increasingly common, with many people obtaining doctoral degrees in their mid-twenties. He noted that eight of his own children hold PhDs, reflecting how accessible higher education has become across generations.
When his children learned of his own doctoral achievement, their reaction was one of uncertainty. Rather than offering straightforward congratulations, they expressed hesitation, unsure how to respond to their father earning the same qualification at such an advanced age.
In his words, “Everybody got PhD at 25 or 26, eight of my children have PhD and when I got my own at the age of 80 they came to me and said, ‘Daddy we don’t even know whether to congratulate you or not to congratulate you because of this PhD you got at the age of 80’. And I said, ‘The difference between you and me is that I paid for your PhD and I paid for mine…See More
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