Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo hosted a memorial service for late US President Jimmy Carter at the Chapel of Christ The Glorious King, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, on Sunday, January 12, 2025.
Obasanjo, who shared a close friendship with Carter, described him as a “great world leader, a righteous man, a lover of humanity, a man of God, and a great and true friend.”
He said their similarities in early life background, both being born into farming families, and their shared values of discipline, morality, hard work, integrity, kindness, humility, compassion for the poor, and strong belief in God.
Obasanjo had in a statement through his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Saturday, said that he would host the memorial service to honour his friend, who was the 39th US President.
Recall that Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, passed away in Plains, Georgia, US, on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100 years.
He was the longest-living US president and the first to reach 100 years of age.
The late former US president, a US Naval Academy graduate, was a member of a Georgia farming family and served as a state senator and governor before defeating incumbent Gerald Ford in a close 1976 presidential election.