Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said he once suffered 25 per cent hearing loss without knowing it.

Mr Obasanjo stated this in Bauchi on Sunday when he paid homage to the Emir of Bauchi, Rilwanu Suleiman-Adamu.

He said many people in the world are deaf without knowing it until they go for medical checks on their hearing capacity before it would be revealed to them.

The former president recounted that he was abroad and could not hear clearly when someone was talking to him and he insisted nothing was wrong with his ears, and the man asked his permission to check on the ears.

Mr Obasanjo said the result of the clinical analysis showed 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.

He said the experience formed the creation of the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, adding 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.

Mr Obasanjo further said that all hands must be on the deck to tackle the security challenges in the country.

Responding, Sulriman-Adamu said Mr Obasanjo’s presence in the state is a sign of his deep commitment to the development and progress of all regions in the country.

Mr Obasanjo was received by Governor Bala Mohammed, former Governor Adamu Mu’azu, Senator Abdul Ningi, and other top government functionaries.

(NAN)