The former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that he has had diabetes for forty years and that although it is incurable, it is manageable.
When speaking to the fans on November 13 at a novelty football game between the Abeokuta All-Stars football team and the former Super Eagles, he said this.
The game was organised by the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation as a part of this year's World Diabetes Day celebrations.
“I was diagnosed with diabetes 40 years ago, and I am still fit and active. But there were people who were diagnosed, and within five years, they died. The difference is education, lack of education, or carelessness, not managing the disease.
“So, the theme for me is ‘Education for Management.’ You can live up to any age, and in any case, none of us is 100 per cent well. We are all carrying one illness or another.
“Knowing what you should do and what you should not do; knowing what you should eat and what you should not eat, and doing everything in moderation matter.
“As a diabetic person, you must not take sugar. Any carbohydrate, you take it moderately; once you know that and you go by it, you are fine.”
According to Obasanjo, a diabetic patient can live up to 100 years by adequately adhering to the “dos and don’ts” of the disease.
“The problem of diabetes is a problem of knowledge and education: knowledge to know that it is not a curable disease, but a manageable disease,” he asserted.
The All-Stars Football club of Abeokuta won the novelty match by a score of two goals to one.