By Oluwatoyin Adegoke
A Memorial Service has been held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State in honour of late former President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, who died on the 29th of December last year in Plains, Georgia USA, at the age of 100.
The memorial service, organized by Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo at the Chapel of Christ The Glorious King, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta was coordinated by the President of the Baptist Convention, the Reverend Israel Akanji.
In a special tribute, entitled “Jimmy Carter: The Departure of a Titan”, Chief Obasanjo explained that his decision to organise the service, about 5000 miles away from the home country of the deceased was in recognition of the late former US President Carter’s lifestyle as a humble man.
Chief Obasanjo described the 39th US President as a great world leader and a righteous lover of God and humanity who fostered real independence as well as economic and social progress for all African nations.
“With less than a month in office, President Carter told us to begin our walking and working together with the US Administration under President Carter leading to my State Visit to the US on October 11, 1977, and culminating in President Carter’s State Visit to Nigeria on March 31-April 3, 1978, the first of such State Visits to any country in Africa by a sitting American President. From then on, whatever the US was doing in Africa, we were carried along”, Chief Obasanjo stated.
Acknowledging the late Carter as a personal friend that stayed true to their friendship of many decades, former President Obasanjo affirmed that the former US President established and sustained the peace, through a virile relationship between Nigeria and the United States and equally between the United States and the entire African continent.
He maintained that the late Carter had also shown that success could easily be achieved while leading by example and in humility, through a leadership style that carried along an army of co-workers who shared the ideal and burden of the work.
In a sermon, President of the Baptist Convention, the Reverend Israel Akanji also highlighted the laudable contributions of the late Jimmy Carter towards ensuring global peace and stability, stressing the need for other world leaders to emulate the virtues of putting the people’s interest above all other considerations.
