Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the ex-Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili is like his daughter to him.
Obasanjo made the remark while felicitating Ezekwesili on her 60th birthday.
The former president recalled treating Ezekwesili like his biological daughter because she was intelligent, dynamic, reliable, and enterprising.
In a statement he signed and forwarded to newsmen, Obasanjo recounted how the former Minister worked with him while he was president.
The statement by Obasanjo reads partly: “Obiageli Ezekwesili is like a daughter to me. Even when she was a minister, I treated her the same way I treated my biological daughters.
“She was a dynamic young woman who is competent, reliable and very enterprising. As she, therefore, clocks 60 today, I cannot but thank God for her life, as I wish her more fulfilling and glorious years and decades ahead.
“Oby and I met through Transparency International, an initiative started by Peter Eigen, who had worked at the World Bank and saw the need for more integrity in the public arena.”
Obasanjo said it was “easy to warm up” with Ezekwesili due to her hard work and dedication to duty.