Carter fought for my release from Abacha’s gulag, says Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he would forever remain grateful to the late US President Jimmy Carter for his significant role in securing his release from the late Sani Abacha’s prison.

Speaking at a memorial service held in honour of the late President Carter at the Chapel of Christ the Glorious King, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Obasanjo said Carter risked his reputation to save his life by seeking his release from prison during Abacha’s regime.

Obasanjo also paid glowing tributes to the late former American president, describing him as a “titan and man of peace.”

“President Carter was one of my foreign friends who stuck their necks out to save my life and to seek my release from prison. On President Carter’s visit to Nigeria, he got Abacha to agree to take me from detention to house arrest on my farm. But that did not last for too long.

“In the evenings of our lives, I became a victim of a militarist man – Sani Abacha – who wanted to rule Nigeria perpetually until the end of his life. President Carter was one of my foreign friends who stuck their necks out to save my life and to seek my release from prison.

“On President Carter’s visit to Nigeria, he got Abacha to agree to take me from detention to house arrest on my farm. But that did not last for too long. Many other friends and leaders intervened, but President Carter was the only non-African leader, according to my information, that paid a visit to Abacha solely to plead for my release,” he said.

The former president also commended General Abdulsalami Abubakar for facilitating his release from prison and ensuring he was able to travel across Africa and the rest of the world to thank all those who worked for his freedom.

“I will remain ever grateful to all who worked for my release from Abacha’s gulag. Abacha ensured that I would not be released. However, within a week of his death, I was released by his successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who also facilitated my going around Africa and the rest of the world to thank all those who worked for my release,” he said.

“One great lesson I learned from President Carter was that in his leadership, he carried along an army of co-workers who shared the ideals and the burden of the work with him. He led by example and in humility, and that ensured his success.”

Carter, the 39th president of the United States and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his post-presidential work, died at 100 on December 29, 2024, at his home in Plains, Georgia.