Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday held a memorial Chuch service in honour of late US President Jimmy Carter at The Chapel of Christ The Glorious King, Olasegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, (OOPL) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital.

According to Obasanjo, the Memorial Church service in honour of the late US president becomes necessary going by his good virtues and righteousness, saying Carter would have preferred nothing better than simple but significant service in his memory.

“But why should I decide to have a service in memory of an American President who lived and died almost 5000 miles away?

“It is because he was a great world leader, he was a righteous man whose righteousness spread over the whole world; he was a lover of humanity, a man of God; and he was a great and true friend of mine”, Obasanjo said.

Speaking at the memorial Church service officiated by Femi Olajide, the Chaplain of the OOPL Chapel, Obasanjo, who read a speech tagged, “Jimmy Carter: The Departure Of A Titan”, was reminiscent of his fond memories with Carter, revealing that the two of them – Jimmy Carter, the former President of US and Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-Nigeria President – were both born and raised by farming families and were also had military trainings and backgrounds.

He said, “In terms of early life background, I shared similarity with President Jimmy Carter. He was born into a farming family in Plains, Georgia, and I was born into a farming family in rural village of Ibogun-Olaogun in Ogun State.

“He grew up under a father and mother who were disciplinarians, who instilled in him essence of discipline, morality, hard work, integrity, kindness and humility, compassion for the poor and strong belief in God.

“My parents inculcated similar attributes in me as I was growing up in a rural area that had no pipe water, no electricity just as it was in Plains, Georgia, while Jimmy Carter was growing there.

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“He beat me though in one respect, there was road to his settlement, there was no road to my village. We walked to every place or, at best, we were carried on bicycle. President Carter had military background which I had and, in fact, we met when I was a military Head of State.”

While speaking about his incarceration by Sani Abacha, a former Nigeria’s Military Dictator and Head of State on an allegation of being involved in a phantom coup, Obasanjo praised Carter on the quality role he played as only non-African, seeking the release of the then Nigeria’s former Military Head of State.

“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.

“I would remain ever grateful to all who worked for my release from Abacha’s gulag. Abacha ensured that I would not be released. Within a week of his death though, I was released by his successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who also facilitated my going round Africa and the rest of the World to thank all those who worked for my release.

In the US, I called on President Jimmy Carter who told me all the efforts he made with other leaders and Abacha remaining unyielding for my release. But the most surprising thing Carter said to me was, “Please see Ted Turner and thank him for his generosity. He came to me and asked me to get his friend, Obasanjo, released from prison. ‘I will take care of him and his family here or wherever he chooses to live”.

“I was touched and moved to tears. I immediately went to Ted who expressed to me the same sentiment that President Carter expressed. He proved his generosity and I kept going back to President Carter anytime I could spare to express my gratitude to him. For me, I would miss a great and true friend but I know we shall meet again in Paradise.

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

“May his soul rest in peace”, Obasanjo said.