Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the late United States (U.S.) President Jimmy Carter was among those who helped him to remain alive.
Carter died on December 29, last year, at the age of 100.
Obasanjo, who was military Head of State in 1978 when Carter first visited Nigeria, spoke with Channels Television at his home in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The ex-President said Carter contributed to the reason he is alive to date, reflecting on his friendship and the fond memories he shared with the late U.S president. But he did not elaborate.
He said Nigeria and the African continent lost a friend in the late Carter while the international community lost an advocate for fairness and justice.
According to him, the late Carter made a tremendous contribution to Nigeria-U.S relations while he was President of the United States (POTUS).
Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military Head of State from February 1976 to October 1979 and later democratically elected President between May 1999 and May 2007.
Carter served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He spent his years after the White House advocating for global democracy, fighting neglected public health scourges and teaching Sunday school.
Born in rural Plains of Georgia, he died in the same house he and his wife — who he was married to for 77 years — bought in 1961.
And his modest lifestyle served as an inspiration to many Americans — even if other presidents didn’t join in themselves.
To name a few: allegations of John F. Kennedy’s extramarital trysts, Bill Clinton’s affair with a White House intern, and Donald Trump’s well-documented sex scandals have “lowered all such standards in American politics,” said Barbara Perry, a professor specialising in the history of U.S presidents.
“Americans have become immune to ethical standards in political life.”
Even those who have stayed clean from personal scandal, such as Barack Obama or George W. Bush, have little in common with the modest lifestyle and outspoken advocacy of Carter’s post-presidency.
