Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, sparked laughter at a public symposium in Abeokuta on Friday after exchanging playful remarks during a discussion on artificial intelligence (AI).
The light-hearted exchange began when Iyabo, a panellist at the event, ended her acknowledgements by recognising her father, who was also in attendance, as someone “who I don’t know”.
Her remark drew laughter from the audience at the main auditorium of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, venue of the Ajibosin Platform symposium held as part of the Odun Omo Olowu festival.
Obasanjo later took the microphone to contribute to the discussion, themed “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Solve Grassroots Problems and Accelerate National Development”.
Admitting that he knew little about AI, the former president warned that technology could be abused when it was beyond the control of its users.
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“Anything that is not in your control can be abused against you,” he said.
He then turned his attention to his daughter, joking that her earlier remark was an example of such abuse.
“And you can see it (abuse) has already started. Iyabo doesn’t know her father. That’s abuse of AI already,” he said, drawing another round of laughter.
The exchange came as the former president also spoke about Nigeria’s economic challenges, cautioning against the uncritical adoption of economic policies recommended by young, foreign-trained experts.
He acknowledged that some of his children, including Iyabo, had attended prestigious foreign universities but questioned whether academic credentials alone were enough to determine how Nigeria should manage its affairs.
“They are brilliant boys and girls, so they went to Ivy League universities, Oxford, Cambridge, and all that,” he said.
Turning to Iyabo, he added: “And some of my children, including Iyabo here, went to those universities. She went to one of the Ivy League universities. But how can Iyabo now be the one who will tell me how I will run my home?”
The public exchange comes after years of reported tension between the former president and his daughter following a strongly worded letter Iyabo had written to him.
However, Iyabo recently dismissed speculation about an ongoing rift, describing their relationship as one that had evolved beyond the traditional father-daughter bond.
In an interview with TVC, she said they had become more like friends, while retaining a deep connection.
“I am the oldest child, I don’t even know how to describe our relationship, we are more than friends now. I will be 60 next year and he will be 90 next year. At this age I don’t need a lot of fathering, we are more like friends but friends with a deep connection,” she said.
Iyabo, a former Ogun State commissioner for health, represented Ogun Central in the Senate between 2011 and 2017 but lost her re-election bid.
She returned to active politics in Ogun State earlier this year, initially joining the All Progressives Congress (APC) and seeking its governorship ticket.
After losing the ticket to Senator Solomon Adeola, who represents Ogun West, she returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in May.
The PDP subsequently gave her its ticket for the Ogun Central senatorial seat ahead of the 2027 general election.
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