When Rosalynn Carter (nicknamed the ‘Steel Magnolia’) died on 19 November, last year at the age of 96, her husband, Jimmy had already achieved the record of becoming the longest-living President in United States history four years earlier, when the 39th American president reached the age of 94 years and 172 days, on 22 March 2019. That feat made him a day older than the 41st US President, George Herbert Walker Bush, who died in 30 November 2018. Bush Sr. (12 June 1924 – 30 November 2018) was the father of George Walker Bush (born 6 July 1946) who served as the 43rd US President 2001 to 2009.
In dying aged 100 years on Sunday, 29 December 2024, Carter has further stretched that record, although there are some past presidents still alive but who are many years from a century.
News of his passing did not come as a surprise, mostly because, at 100, it is an assumption that the person is already at the departure hall, and he had already been in hospice care for two years; but JC was a legend and a man loved by many.
His grandson, Jason Carter, who is the Chairman of the Board of the Carter Centre, emailed the obituary notice to members, supporters and subscribers to the centre as soon as it happened: He wrote: “My family and I are saddened to inform you of my grandfather’s passing. The Carter Centre has been a vital part of his life’s work, and I thank you for all you have done to fulfil his vision of a world at peace that respects and promotes equal human rights for all, reducing human suffering. Your partnership in our work is a testament to his legacy, and I can assure you that the remarkable people at the Centre will continue the important work he has led us in for over 40 years. We appreciate your continued friendship”.
James Earl Carter Jr was born 1 October 1924, and was President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A Democrat, he previously served as a Georgia State senator from 1963 to 1967 and as the 76th Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975.
Carter served as US President for only one term when he lost to Republican Ronald Reagan who succeeded him in 1981, but he is generally regarded as a model former president and has enjoyed the longest post-presidency period in American history after leaving the White House in 1981.
Through the Carter Centre, the Atlanta-based non-profit organisation that Mr. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, founded in 1982, the former president engaged in the causes and activities that support development, health and democracy in many countries of the world.
Nigeria is one country that has benefitted from Carter’s post-presidential programmes and projects in several decades and you do not need to look far to find out why Carter had this closeness and provided support for projects in Nigeria.
Importantly, Carter was the first American President to visit Nigeria and that was in 1978. His first visit to Nigeria was also the first state visit by an American president to sub-Saharan Africa. For decades, his love for Nigeria did not wane, even when there were reasons to decline.
Olusegun Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military leader when, as US president, Carter visited this country from 31 March to 3 April 1978. That state visit must have served as an attraction for Carter because his contact with Nigeria continued and he used the Carter Centre to promote many projects in different parts of Nigeria.
Millions of Nigerians have been spared lots of suffering, thanks to collaborative efforts of The Carter Centre and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health to address widespread neglected diseases such as Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, river blindness, trachoma, and malaria. The Carter Centre has also assisted in efforts to build democracy and peace in Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta and with other projects.
Elections monitoring is one major area that Carter and the Centre have been very active in Nigeria and they did not shy away from disagreeing with flawed electoral processes and wrote to state their positions after such elections. From the 1999 elections conducted after the death of General Sani Abacha in June 1998 and when the General Abdulsalami Abubakar agreed to hand over power the following year, The Carter Centre was invited to observe elections called for February 1999.
The Carter Centre and its partner, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, observed voting in February 1999, for National Assembly members and the President. The observers were led by Carter himself, who was joined by retired US Army General Colin Powell and former Niger President Mahamane Ousmane to lead a 66-member delegation to monitor the election, and they did not fail to register their misgivings about the irregularities they noticed.
Carter and his centre have continued to be involved in the election process since the 2003 presidential election some of their recommendations for pre-election activities like public display of voters register, publicising the number of registered voters, informing citizens on how to acquire voters card, and simplifying the process for accrediting election observers seem to now form a big part of the electoral processes and procedures.
Other areas of Nigeria’s national life where Jimmy Carter supported the system include Encouraging a Free Press, Defending Human Rights, Resolving Conflict, particularly in the Niger Delta which Carter has visited, as well as Fighting Disease, an area where projects have been set up for Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease, Eliminating River Blindness, Eliminating Lymphatic Filariasis, Controlling Trachoma, Targeting Schistosomiasis, Controlling Malaria and Increasing Food Production.
In all these projects, Carter, who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002, was in the forefront, providing leadership and funding, through the Carter Centre to help provide better life of Nigerians.
With age, his visits to Nigeria and other parts of the world have of course been getting fewer and fewer, but even the same age has not reduced his enthusiasm to carry on supporting this country as he remains the first American president to set foot on the soil.
Some of Carter’s visits may also not been receiving all the loud publicity which a co-former president like Bill Clinton on a speaking tour would receive. But we salute this great man who did not hesitate to blaze the trail to visit our shores, even in the height of the Cold War in 1978.
In death, there is no doubt that his legacy not just as US President but as a friend of many disadvantaged persons worldwide, will be viewed in positive light and with much fondness.
Epa Eboigbe, veteran journalist, broadcaster and public affairs specialist, writes and analyses current and historical issues with a wise pen
