By Isuma MARK
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has said he alongside his Chief Security Officer once suffered hearing loss without knowing it.
Obasanjo made the revelation in Bauchi on Sunday while paying homage to the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Suleiman-Adamu.
The former president was in Bauchi toinaugurate the distribution of hearing aids as part of Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation’s efforts to tackle hearing problems.
He explained that many people in the world are deaf without knowing it until they go for medical check up.
He recounted his experience while on a trip abroad saying he could not hear clearly when someone was talking to him but that he insisted nothing was wrong with his ears untl the man asked for permission to check on his ears with the result of the clinical analysis showinf he was 25 per cent deaf.
“After my result came out, I had to ask the man to also check on my Chief Security Officer then but shockingly enough, he was more deaf than I was,” he said.
This experience, he said, informed the creation of the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation.
He revealed that thousands of Nigerians had benefitted from its ear treatment and provision of hearing aids in partnership with Starkey Hearing Foundation.
The former president said he would inaugurate the distribution of hearing aids targeting about 10,000 indigent people in the North-East, starting from Bauchi State where 2,000 people would benefit.
He said the exercise, tagged, ‘Sound Intervention Mission so Nigerians may hear’ would be implemented under the Obasanjo Foundation.
Obasanjo further said that all hands must be on the deck to tackle the security challenges in the country.
Responding, Sulriman-Adamu said that Obasanjo’s presence in the state is a sign of his deep commitment to the development and progress of all regions in the country.
The former president was received by Governor Bala Mohammed, ex-governor,Adamu Mu’azu, Senator Abdul Ningi, and other top government functionaries.