TheCable

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says he has written 12 story books as part of efforts to preserve culture and prepare children for the future.

Obasanjo said this on Tuesday while speaking at an event entitled ‘Story time with Baba’. It held at Ibogun in Ifo local government area of Ogun state.

He said stories contained values which guide children to differentiate between right and wrong actions.

The former president said while growing up, his parents and other community leaders gathered young children including himself under the moonlight to give them riddles and tell them stories.

“They normally required us to solve the riddles so as to make us think deeply and sharpen our wits while they told us stories to inculcate moral values into us,” Obasanjo said.

“Most of the stories revolved round animals, particularly the tortoise, and will normally end with lessons to build character by pointing us to what to do and what not to do.

“We have grown up with those moral values and they served as foundations upon which we built our lives and conducted ourselves wherever we went.”

He expressed concern that the practice of story telling had been jettisoned by parents of this generation.

Obasanjo further distributed copies of his books to pupils who attended the event.

The programme was organised by the Centre for Human Security, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), as part of activities heralding the 80th birthday of the former president on Sunday.